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ΤΗΕ LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEB

EDITED BY

G. P. GOOLD

PREVIOUS EDITORS
T. E. PAGE E. CAPPS
W. H. D. ROUSE L. A. POST
E. H. WARMINGTON

PLUTARCH
MORALIA
ν

LCL 306

PLUTARCH

MORALIA

VOLUME V

WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
FRANK COLE BABBITT

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
LONDON, ENGLAND

First published 1936
Reprinted 1957, 1962, 1960, 1984, 1993, 1999

LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY® is a registered trademark
of the President and Fellows of Harvard College

_ ISBN 0-674-99337-3

Printed in Great Britain by St Edmundsbury Press Ltd,
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on acid-free paper.
Bound by Hunter & Foulis Ltd, Edinburgh, Scotland.

CONTENTS

PREFACE ' ᾿ vii

TRADITIONAL ORDER OF THE MORALIA ix

ISIS AND OSIRIS

Introduction 3

‘text and ‘lranslation 6
THE E AT DELPHI ᾿

Introduction 194

Text and Translation 198
THE ORACLES AT DELPHI NO LONGER
GIVEN IN VERSE

Introduction | 256

Text and Translation 258
THE OBSOLESCENCE OF ORACLES

Introduction 348

Text and Translation 350

INDEX . 508

PREFACE

A proof of Plutarch’s versatility may be found in the
fact that the essays contained in this volume of the
Moralia will probably appeal to a different class of
readers from those who found the preceding volumes
of interest. The Egyptian religion and the oracle at
Delphi stand apart from the sayings of kings and
commanders, for example, or the history of Rome, or
the exploits of Alexander the Great. Yet they too
have their appeal, and many will doubtless find them
exceedingly interesting. The task of translation has
not been easy, but it is hoped that the English
version may be intelligible.

The present volume was written before Vol. IV. in
order to take advantage of Vol. III. of the new
Teubner edition (Ed. W. R. Paton, M. Pohlenz,
W. Sieveking, Leipzig, 1929), and the 3rd fasicule
of Vol. II. containing the Isis and Osiris.

The third volume of the new Teubner Edition is
much superior to the first volume; the readings of
the Mss. are more accurately recorded, as well as the
conjectures, of which a sensible selection is given, and
the modesty and moderation of Pohlenz’s suggestions
contrast favourably with the certainty and assurance
which used to characterize Wilamowitz-Méllendorff’s
~ corrections.”

vii

PREFACE

The Pythian Dialogues had already been edited by
W. R. Paton (Berlin, 1893), and afforded a fairly full
collation of the mss. Some few of Paton’s con-
jectures are brilliant, and his contributions to the
understanding of these essays will always stand to his

credit.
F. C. B.

TRINITY COLLEGE,

HARTFORD, Conn.
January 1935.

viii

ISIS AND OSIRIS
(DE ISIDE ET OSIRIDE)

INTRODUCTION

Pictrarcu’s knowledge of Egyptology was not pro-
found. Itis true that he once visited Egypt,” but how
long he stayed and how much he learned we have no
means of knowing. It is most likely that his treatise
represents the knowledge current in his day, derived,
no doubt, from two sources : books and priests. The
gods of Egypt had early found a welcome in other
lands, in Syria and Asia Minor, and later in Greece
and Rome. That the worship of Isis had been intro-
duced into Greece before 330 B.c. is certain from an
inscription found in the Peiraeus (Z.G. Πα 168, or
IL? 337; Dittenberger, Sylloge’, 280, or 551?), in
which the merchants from Citium ask permission to
found a shrine of Aphrodite on the same terms as
those on which the Egyptians had founded a shrine of
Isis. In Delos there was a shrine of the Egyptian
gods, and in Plutarch’s own town they must have
been honoured, for there have been found two dedica-
tions to Serapis, Isis, and Anubis,? as well as numerous
inscriptions recording the manumission of slaves,
which in Greece was commonly accomplished by
dedicating them to a god, who, in these inscriptions,
is Serapis (Sarapis). An idea of the widespread

« Moralia, 678 ο.
> Of. Collitz, Sammlung der griechischen Dialekt-
inschriften, vol. i. pp. 149-155.
8

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

worship of Egyptian gods in Greek lands may be
obtained from Roscher, Ausfiihrliches Lexikon der grie-
chischen und römischen Mythologie, vol. ii. pp. 879-392,
where the cults of Isis are listed.

Another source of information available to Plutarch
was books. Herodotus in the fifth century B.c. had
visited Egypt, and he devoted a large part of the
second book of his History to the manners and
customs of the Egyptians. Plutarch, however, draws
but little from him. Some of the information that
Plutarch gives us may be found also in Diodorus
Siculus, principally in the first book, but a little also
in the second. Aelian and, to a less extent, other
writers mentioned in the notes on the text, have
isolated fragments of information which usually agree
with Plutarch and Diodorus. All this points to the
existence of one or more books, now lost, which con-
tained this. information, possibly in a systematic form.
As a result, Plutarch has many things right and some
wrong. Those who are interested in these matters
may consult Erman-Grapow, Wörterbuch der dgyp-
tischen Sprache (Leipzig, 1925-1929), and G. Parthey’s
edition of the Isis and Osiris (Berlin, 1850).

One matter which will seem very unscientific to the
modern reader is Plutarch’s attempts to explain the
derivation of various words, especially his attempt to
derive Egyptian words from Greek roots ; but in this
respect he sins no more than Plato, who has given
us some most atrocious derivations of Greek words,
especially in the Cratylus; nor is it more disastrous
than Herodotus’s industrious attempts (in Book IT)
to derive all manner of Greek customs, ritual, and
theology from Egypt.

In spite of minor errors contained in the Isis and

ISIS AND OSIRIS

Osiris, no other work by a Greek writer is more
frequently referred to by Egyptologists except,
possibly, Herodotus. Connected information may,
of course, be found in histories of Egypt, such as
those of Breasted and Baikie.*

The work is dedicated to Clea, a cultured and
intelligent woman, priestess at Delphi, to whom
Plutarch dedicated also his book on the Bravery of
Women (Moralia, 242 Ἐ-968 ο, contained in νο], iti. of
L.C.L. pp. 473-581). It is, no doubt, owing to this
that the author, after he has unburdened himself of
his information on Egyptology, goes on to make some
very sane remarks on the subject of religion and the
proper attitude in which to approach it. This part
of the essay ranks with the best of Plutarch’s writing.

The ms. tradition of the essay is bad, as may be
seen from the variations found in the few passages
quoted by later writers such as Eusebius and Stobaeus ;
yet much has been done by acute scholars to make
the text more intelligible. It may not be invidious
to mention among those who have made special con-
tributions to the study of this work W. Baxter, who
translated it (1684), and S. Squire, who edited it
(1744). Many other names will be found in the
critical notes.

The essay is No. 118 in Lamprias’s list of Plutarch’s
works, where the title is given as an account of Isis
and Serapis.

2 All the Greek and Roman sources for the religion of
the Egyptians will be found conveniently collected in
Hopfner, Fontes Historiae Religionis Aegyptiacae, Parts I.
and II, (Bonn, 1922-1923).

(351)

ΠΕΡΙ ΙΣΙΔΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΣΙΡΙΔΟΣ

1. Πάντα μέν, ὦ Κλέα, δεῖ τἀγαθὰ τοὺς νοῦν ἔχον-
A - ~ .
τας αἰτεῖσθαι παρὰ τῶν θεῶν, μάλιστα δὲ τῆς περὶ
αὐτῶν ἐπιστήμης ὅσον ἐφικτόν ἐστιν ἀνθρώποις
9
μετιόντες εὐχόμεθα τυγχάνειν παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων,
ε ὑδὲ 5 θ + À A A 35 41 / 0
ὡς οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπῳ λαβεῖν μεῖζον οὐδὲ' χαρίσασθαι
θεῷ σεμνότερον ἀληθείας. τἄλλα μὲν γὰρ ἀνθρώ-
ε β ` - δ , δίδ ο. δὲ ` Ps
ποις ὁ θεὸς ὧν δέονται δίδωσιν, νοῦ δε καὶ φρονη
- A $
gews µεταδίδωσιν," οἰκεῖα κεκτημένος ταῦτα καὶ
χρώμενος. od γὰρ ἀργύρῳ καὶ χρυσῷ μακάριον
τὸ θεῖον, οὐδὲ βρονταῖς καὶ κεραυνοῖς ἰσχυρόν,
F ? > £ . 7 A A 4
ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιστήμῃ καὶ φρονήσει. καὶ τοῦτο κάλλιστα
πάντων "Όμηρος ὧν εἴρηκε περὶ θεῶν ἀναφθεγ-
7.
ἑάμενος

5 A > LS ε 4 ’ 399 y ,
ἢ μὰν ἀμφοτέροισιν ὁμὸν γένος ἠδ᾽ ta πάτρη,
ἀλλὰ Ζεὺς πρότερος γεγόνει καὶ πλείονα δει,

+ > ’ A ~ . ε $ 3
σεμνοτέραν ἀπέφηνε τὴν τοῦ Διὸς ἡγεμονίαν ἐπι-
.
στήμῃ καὶ σοφίᾳ" πρεσβυτέραν οὖσαν. οἶμαι δὲ καὶ

1 οὐδὲ Holwerda: οὐ.

2 γοῦ... μεταδίδωσιν added by Wyttenbach from Eustratius,
Comment. ad Aristot. Ethic. vi. 8.

3 ἐπιστήμῃ καὶ σοφίᾳ Markland: ἐπιστήμης καὶ σοφίας.
got ee l a

6 The priestess for whom Plutarch composed his collection
of stories about the Bravery of Women (Moralia, 242 £ Β.).

ISIS AND OSIRIS

1. Aut good things, my dear Clea,* sensible men
must ask from the gods ; and especially do we pray
that from those mighty gods we may, in our quest,
gain a knowledge of themselves, so far as such a thin
is attainable by men.? For we believe that there is
nothing more important for man to receive, or more
ennobling for God of His grace to grant, than the
truth. God gives to men the other things for which
they express a desire, but of sense and intelligence
He grants them only a share, inasmuch as these are
His especial possessions and His sphere of activity,
For the Deity is not blessed by reason of his possession
of gold and silver,* nor strong because of thunder and
lightning, but through knowledge and intelligence.
Of all the things that Homer said about the gods, he
has expressed most beautifully this thought τά

Both, indeed, were in lineage one, and of the same country,
Yet was Zeus the earlier born and his knowledge was
greater.

Thereby the poet plainly declares that the primacy
of Zeus is nobler since it is elder in knowledge and in

è Cf. Plutarch, Moralia, 780 r-781 a and 355 c, infra,

e Cf. Themistius, Oration xxxiii. p. 365 B-D.

4 Iliad, xiii. 354; quoted also in Moralia, 32 4, and Life
and Writings of Homer, ii. 114,

352

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

~ > £ ~ A F. + ” 1).
τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, ἣν ὁ θεὸς εἴληχεν, εὔδαιμον
εἶναι τὸ τῇ γνώσει μὴ προαπολιπεῖν τὰ γιγνόμενα"
τοῦ δὲ γιγνώσκειν τὰ ὄντα καὶ φρονεῖν ἀφαιρεθέν-
> ’ 3 | / i 3 t
τος, οὐ βίον ἀλλὰ χρόνον εἶναι τὴν ἀθανασίαν.
2. Διὸ θειότητος ὄρεξίς ἐστιν ἡ τῆς ἀληθείας
- . -
μάλιστα δὲ τῆς περὶ θεῶν ἔφεσις, ὥσπερ ἀνάληψιν
ἱερῶν τὴν μάθησιν ἔχουσα καὶ τὴν ζήτησιν, ἁγνείας
τε πάσης καὶ νεωκορίας ἔργον ὁσιώτερον, οὐχ
ἥκιστα δὲ τῇ θεῷ ταύτῃ κεχαρισμένον, ἣν σὺ
7 E ,* Εἰ x / =
θεραπεύεις ἐξαιρέτως σοφὴν καὶ φιλόσοφον οὖσαν,
ε s , 1 / ” ` a 1. -
ὡς τοὔνομά ye! φράζειν ἔοικε, παντὸς μᾶλλον αὐτῇ
τὸ εἰδέναι καὶ τὴν ἐπιστήμην προσήκουσαν. “Ελ-
` ` esp 7 » ve , no /
ληνικὸν γὰρ ἡ Ἶσίς ἐστι καὶ ὁ Τυφών, ὤν" πολέμιος
τῇ θεῷ καὶ δι ἄγνοιαν καὶ ἀπάτην τετυφωμένος
καὶ διασπῶν καὶ ἀφανίζων τὸν ἱερὸν λόγον, ὃν ἡ
θεὸς συνάγει καὶ συντίθησι καὶ παραδίδωσι τοῖς
τελουμένοις, ὡς ἱερώσεως” σώφρονι μὲν ἐνδελεχῶς
A - . /
διαίτῃ καὶ βρωμάτων πολλῶν καὶ ἀφροδισίων
> a + νυν ` z
ἀποχαῖς κολουούσης" τὸ ἀκόλαστον καὶ φιλήδονον,
> ’ A . ` > t a F
ἀθρύπτους δὲ καὶ στερρὰς ἐν ἱερος λατρείας
ἐθιζούσης ὑπομένειν, ὧν τέλος ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ πρώτου
x a ~ . τ a
καὶ κυρίου καὶ νοητοῦ γνῶσις, ὃν ἡ θεὸς παρακαλεῖ
ζητεῖν παρ᾽ αὐτῇ καὶ per αὐτῆς ὄντα καὶ συνόντα.
A 3 A a
τοῦ δ᾽ ἱεροῦ τοὔνομα καὶ σαφῶς ἐπαγγέλλεται καὶ
1 γε Reiske: τε.
2 dy added by Reiske and placed by Bernardakis.
3 4 2 A F ο B h. et d ‘ /
ὡς ἱερώσεως F.C.B. (or perhaps ὁσίως καὶ σωφρονιζομένοις

e. > κολουούσαις , . . ἐθιζούσαις): θειώσεως.
4 κολουούσης] most mss. have κολουούσαις.

a Of. Moralia, 181 a.
> Plutarch is attempting to connect “ Isis ” with οἶδα, know,
and “Typhon” with Tvg, puf up. See, however, 375 ο, infra.
ο Cf. 355 E, infra.
8

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 351-352

wisdom. I think also that a source of happiness in|
the eternal life, which is the lot of God, is that events
which come to pass donot escape His prescience. But
if His knowledge and meditation on the nature of
Existence should be taken away, then, to my mind,
His immortality is not living, but a mere lapse of
time.*

2. Therefore the effort to arrive at the Truth, and
especially the truth about the gods, is a longing for
the divine. For the search for truth requires for its
study and investigation the consideration of sacred
subjects, and it is a work more hallowed than any
form of holy living or temple service ; and, not least
of all, it is well-pleasing to that goddess whom you
worship, a goddess exceptionally wise and a lover of
wisdom, to whom, as her name at least seems to
indicate, knowledge and understanding are in the
highest degree appropriate. For Isis is a Greek
word, and so also is Typhon, her enemy, who is
conceited, as his name implies,” because of his ignor-
ance and self-deception. He tears to pieces and
scatters to the winds the sacred writings, which the
goddess collects and puts together and gives into
the keeping of those that are initiated into the holy
rites, since this consecration, by a strict regimen and
by abstinence from many kinds of food and from
the lusts of the flesh, curtails licentiousness and the
love of pleasure, and induces a habit of patient sub-
mission to the stern and rigorous services in shrines,
the end and aim of which is the knowledge of Him
who is the First, the Lord of All, the Ideal One. Him
does the goddess urge us to seek, since He is near
her and with her and in close communion. The name
of her shrine also clearly promises knowledge and

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

- . s ~ 3. 3 4 `
(352) γνῶσι; καὶ εἴδησιν τοῦ ὄντος" ὀνομάζεται γὰρ
σεῖον ὡς εἰσομένωνὶ τὸ ὄν, ἂν μετὰ λόγου καὶ
ὁσίως εἰς τὰ ἱερὰ παρέλθωμεν τῆς θεοῦ.
A m
8. "Ἔτι πολλοὶ μὲν Ἑρμοῦ, πολλοὶ δὲ Προμη-
θέως ἱστορήκασιν αὐτὴν θυγατέρα, ὡς" τὸν μὲν
ἕτερον σοφίας καὶ προνοίας, ᾿Ερμῆν δὲ γραμ-
B ματικῆς καὶ μουσικῆς εὑρετὴν νομίζοντες. διὸ καὶ
τῶν ἐν' Ἑρμοῦ πόλει Μουσῶν τὴν προτέραν Ἶσιν
kd ` Δ a ” ~Y = 5 ο
ἅμα καὶ Δικαιοσύνην καλοῦσι, σοφὴν οὖσαν, ὥσπερ
εἴρηται, καὶ δεικνύουσαν τὰ θεῖα τοῖς ἀληθῶς καὶ
δικαίως ἱεραφόροις καὶ ἱεροστόλοις προσαγορευο-
μένοις. οὗτοι δ᾽ εἰσὶν οἱ τὸν ἱερὸν λόγον περὶ θεῶν
πάσης καθαρεύοντα δεισιδαιμονίας καὶ περιεργίας
ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ φέροντες ὥσπερ ἐν κίστῃ καὶ περι-
στέλλοντες, τὰ μὲν μέλανα καὶ σκιώδη τὰ δὲ φανερὰ
καὶ λαμπρὰ τῆς περὶ θεῶν ὑποδηλοῦντες" οἰήσεως,
οἷα καὶ περὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα τὴν ἱερὰν ἀποφαίνεται.
διὸ καὶ τὸ κοσμεῖσθαι τούτοις τοὺς ἀποθανόντας
Ἰσιακοὺς σύμβολόν. ἐστι τοῦτον τὸν λόγον εἶναι
0 μετ᾽ αὐτῶν, καὶ τοῦτον ἔχοντας, ἄλλο δὲ μηδέν,
ἐκεῖ βαδίζειν. οὔτε γὰρ φιλοσόφους πωγωνο-
A >
τροφίαι, ὦ Κλέα, καὶ τριβωνοφορίαι ποιοῦσιν, οὔτ
>Ï ‘ ε λ At λ £ 7 3 3 `I /
σιακοὺς αἱ λινοστολίαι καὶ ξυρήσεις"' ἀλλ᾽ Ἰσιακός
1 εἰσομένων Baxter: εἰσόμενον.
3 ὡς Reiske: ὧν ὃν. 3 τὸν Basel ed. of 1542: τὸ.
4 ἐν added by Baxter.
5 σοφὴν οὖσαν Baxter: σοφίαν.

5 ὑποδηλοῦντες one Ms. and Meziriacus: ὑποδηλοῦντα.
? ἐυρήσεις Reiske: ξύρησις.

α As if derived from οἶδα, know, and ὄν, being.

> Of. 355 F, infra.

ο Gf. 365 F, infra, and Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis,
i. 106. 1, 21 (p. 382, Potter).

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 352

comprehension of reality ; for it is named Iseion,*
to indicate that we shall comprehend reality if in a
reasonable and devout frame of mind we pass within
the portals of her shrines.

3. Moreover, many writers have held her to be the
daughter of Hermes,’ and many others the daughter
of Prometheus, because of the belief that Prometheus
is the discoverer of wisdom and forethought, and
Hermes the inventor of grammar and music. For
this reason they call the first of the Muses at Her-
mopolis Isis as well as Justice: for she is wise, as
I have said,? and discloses the divine mysteries to
those who truly and justly have the name of
" bearers of the sacred vessels ” and “ wearers of the
sacred robes.” These are they who within their own
soul, as though within a casket, bear the sacred
writings about the gods clear of all superstition and
pedantry; and they cloak them with secrecy, thus
giving intimations, some dark and shadowy, some
clear and bright, of their concepts about the gods,
intimations of the same sort as are clearly evi-
denced in the wearing of the sacred garb.¢ For this
reason, too, the fact that the deceased votaries of
Isis are decked with these garments is a sign that
these sacred writings accompany them, and that they
pass to the other world possessed of these and of
naught else. It is a fact, Clea, that having a beard
and wearing a coarse cloak does not make philo-
sophers, nor does dressing in linen and shaving the
hair make votaries of Isis; but the true votary of Isis

@ Supra, 351 F.

e Cf. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum,
Νο. 754 (not included in the third edition), or Altertiimer
von Pergamon, viii. 2, p. 248, no. 326; also Moralia, 382 ο.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(562) ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς 6 τὰ δεικνύμενα καὶ δρώμενα
` N ` , v 1 / z 2
περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους, ὅταν! νόμῳ παραλάβη,
λόγῳ ζητῶν καὶ φιλοσοφῶν περὶ τῆς ἐν αὐτοῖς
ἀληθείας.
kd κ 2 4 . 4 ,

4. ᾿Επεὶ τούς γε πολλοὺς καὶ τὸ κοινότατον
- . + [4 349? a x
τοῦτο καὶ σμικρότατον λέληθεν, ἐφ᾽ ὅτῳ τὰς
τρίχας οἱ ἱερεῖς ἀποτίθενται καὶ λινᾶς ἐσθῆτας
~ ε bS 309 wv / ΕΙΝ 7
φοροῦσιν: οἱ μὲν οὐδ᾽ ὅλως φροντίζουσιν εἰδέναι
D περὶ τούτων, οἱ δὲ τῶν μὲν ἐρίων ὥσπερ τῶν
κρεῶν σεβομένους τὸ πρόβατον ἀπέχεσθαι λέγουσι,
ξυρεῖσθαι δὲ τὰς κεφαλὰς διὰ τὸ πένθος, φορεῖν δὲ
A; - . 4 J A A + > ~ 3 t
τὰ λινᾶ διὰ τὴν χρόαν, ἣν τὸ λίνον ἀνθοῦν ἀνίησι
τῇ περιεχούσῃ τὸν κόσμον αἰθερίῳ χαροπότητι

- [4 3 » κ 3 7 7 / > /
προσεοικυῖαν. ἡ δ᾽ ἀληθὴς αἰτία µία πάντων ἐστί:
“καθαροῦ ydp,” ᾗ φησιν 6 Πλάτων, “ οὐ θεμιτὸν
9 A ~ 3} TA ` - ι
ἅπτεσθαι μὴ καθαρῷ" ᾿’ περίττωμα δὲ τροφῆς καὶ

z IN ε ` IDA , ? $ Si
σκύβαλον οὐδὲν ἁγνὸν οὐδὲ καθαρόν grw: ἐκ δὲ
περιττωμάτων ἔρια καὶ λάχναι καὶ τρίχες καὶ
yw > P. . 4 - ἊΝ
ὄνυχες ἀναφύονται καὶ βλαστάνουσι. γελοῖον οὖν
E ἦν τὰς μὲν αὑτῶν τρίχας ἐν ταῖς ἀγνείαις dmo-
/ r Π ` , ο. ε a
τίθεσθαι ξυρουμένους' καὶ λειαινομένους πᾶν ὁμαλῶς
τὸ σῶμα, τὰς δὲ τῶν θρεμμάτων ἀμπέχεσθαι καὶ
- . A . ‘H ’ ὃ N 8 ὃ a λ ΤΑ
φορεῖν" καὶ γὰρ τὸν 'Ησίοδον οἴεσθαι δεῖ λέγοντα
1 ὅταν] ἅττ᾽ ἂν Bentley.
3 παραλάβῃ Aldine: παραβάλῃ.
3 ἐυρεῖσθαι should probably be always read. in Plutarch
(e.g. 180 B) instead of ξύρειν or ξυρᾶν: ξύρεσθαι.
4 ξυρουµένους] also ξυρωμένους.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 352

is he who, when he has legitimately received what is
set forth in the ceremonies connected with these gods,
uses reason in investigating and in studying the truth
contained therein.

4. It 15 true that most people are unaware of this
very ordinary and minor matter : the reason why the
priests remove their hair and wear linen garments.*
Some persons do not care at all to have any knowledge
about such things, while others say that the priests,
because they revere the sheep,® abstain from using its
wool, as well as its flesh ; and that they shave their
heads as a sign of mourning, and that they wear their
linen garments because of the colour which the flax
displays when in bloom, and which is like to the
heavenly azure which enfolds the universe. But for
all this there is only one true reason, which is to be
found in the words of Plato®: “for the Impure to
touch the Pure is contrary to divine ordinance.” Νο
surplus left over from food and no excrementitious
matter is pure and clean; and it is from forms of
surplus that wool, fur, hair, and nails originate and
grow.? So it would be ridiculous that these persons
in their holy living should remove their own hair by
shaving and making their bodies smooth all over,’
and then should put on and wear the hair of domestic
animals. We should believe that when Hesiod ή said,

α Cf. Herodotus, ii. 37 and 81.

è In Sais and Thebais according to Strabo, xvii. 40
(p. 812).

ο Phaedo, 67 8; cf. Moralia, 108 D.

a Cf. Apuleius, Apology, chap. 26.

e Cf. Herodotus, ii. 37.

1 Works and Days, 742-743. The meaning of these some-
what cryptic lines is, of course, that one should not pare
one’s nails at table; cf. also Moralia, ed. Bernardakis, vol.
vii. Ῥ. 90.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

3 > . / - 3 . /
μηδ᾽ ἀπὸ πεντόζοιο θεῶν ἐν δαιτὶ θαλείῃ
αὖον ἀπὸ χλωροῦ τάµνειν αἴθωνι σιδήρῳ,

διδάσκειν ὅτι δεῖ καθαροὺς τῶν τοιούτων γενο-
μένους ἑορτάζειν, οὐκ ἐν αὐταῖς ταῖς ἱερουργίαις
χρῆσθαι καθάρσει καὶ ἀφαιρέσει τῶν περιττωμά-
των. τὸ δὲ λίνον φύεται μὲν ἐξ ἀθανάτου τῆς γῆς
Ε καὶ καρπὸν ἐδώδιμον ἀναδίδωσι, λιτὴν δὲ παρέχει
καὶ καθαρὰν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τῷ σκέποντι μὴ βαρύ-
νουσαν, εὐάρμοστον δὲ πρὸς πᾶσαν ὥραν, KLOTO
δὲ φθειροποιόν, ὡς λέγουσι" περὶ ὧν ἕτερος λόγος.
5. Οἱ δ᾽ ἱερεῖς οὕτω δυσχεραίνουσι τὴν τῶν
περιττωμάτων φύσιν, ὥστε μὴ μόνον παραιτεῖσθαι
τῶν ὀσπρίων τὰ πολλὰ καὶ τῶν κρεῶν τὰ μήλεια
καὶ ὕεια, πολλὴν ποιοῦντα περίττωσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ
τοὺς ἅλας τῶν σιτίων ἐν ταῖς ἀγνείαις ἀφαιρεῖν,
ἄλλας τε πλείονας αἰτίας ἔχοντας καὶ τὸ ποτι-
κωτέρους καὶ βρωτικωτέρους ποιεῖν ἐπιθήγοντας
τὴν ὄρεξιν. τὸ γάρ, ws ᾿Αρισταγόρας ἔλεγε, διὰ
τὸ πηγνυμένοις πολλὰ τῶν μικρῶν ζῴων ἐν-
αποθνῄσκειν ἁλισκόμενα μὴ καθαροὺς λογίζεσθαι
τοὺς ἅλας εὔηθές ἐστι.

353 Λέγονται δὲ καὶ τὸν "Arw ἐκ φρέατος ἰδίου
ποτίζειν, τοῦ δὲ Νείλου παντάπασιν ἀπείργειν, οὐ
μιαρὸν ἡγούμενοι) τὸ ὕδωρ διὰ τὸν κροκόδειλον,
ὡς ἔνιοι νομίζουσιν: οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως τίμιον’
Αἰγυπτίοις ὡς ὁ Νεῖλος: ἀλλὰ πιαίνειν δοκεῖ καὶ

1 τὸ added by Wyttenbach.
3 ἡγούμενοι Markland: ἡγουμένους.
8 τίμιον Reiske: τιμὴ.

3 Plutarch touches briefly on this subject in Moralia,
642 ς.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 352-353

Cut not the sere from the green when you honour the gods
with full feasting,

Paring with glittering steel the member that hath the five
branches,

he was teaching that men should be clean of such
things when they keep high festival, and they should
not amid the actual ceremonies engage in clearing
away and removing any sort of surplus matter. But
the flax springs from the earth which is immortal ; it
yields edible seeds, and supplies a plain and cleanly
clothing, which does not oppress by the weight
required for warmth. It is suitable for every season
and, as they say, is least apt to breed lice ; but this
topic is treated elsewhere.*

5. The priests feel such repugnance for things that
are of a superfluous nature that they not only eschew
most legumes, as well as mutton and pork,’ which
leave a large residuum, but they also use no salt 6 with
their food during their periods of holy living. For
this they have various other reasons, but in particular
the fact that salt, by sharpening the appetite, makes
them more inclined to drinking and eating. To
consider salt impure, because, as Aristagoras has said,
when it is crystallizing many minute creatures are
caught in it and die there, is certainly silly.

It is said also that they water the Apis from a
well of his own, and keep him away from the Nile
altogether, not that they think the water unclean
because of the crocodile, as some believe ; for there
is nothing which the Egyptians hold in such honour
as the Nile. But the drinking of the Nile water is

è Of. Herodotus, ii, 37, and Moralia, 286 £.
ο Of. infra, 363%; Moralia, 684 F, 729 A ; and Arrian,
Anabasis, iii. 4. 4.
15

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(853) μάλιστα πολυσαρκίαν ποιεῖν τὸ Νειλῷον ὕδωρ
πινόμενον. οὗ βούλονται δὲ τὸν Απιν οὕτως ἔχειν
οὐδ᾽ ἑαυτούς, ἀλλ᾽ εὐσταλῆ καὶ κοῦφα ταῖς
ψυχαῖς περικεῖσθαι τὰ σώματα καὶ μὴ πιέζειν
μηδὲ καταθλίβειν ἰσχύοντι τῷ θνητῷ καὶ βαρύνοντι
τὸ θεῖον.

6. Οἶνον δ᾽ οἱ μὲν ἐν Ἡλίου πόλει θεραπεύοντες
τὸν θεὸν οὐκ εἰσφέρουσι τὸ παράπαν. eis τὸ ἱερόν,
B ὡς οὐ προσῆκον ἡμέρας! πίνειν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ
βασιλέως ἐφορῶντος: οἱ δ᾽ ἄλλοι) χρῶνται μὲν
ὀλίγῳ δέ. πολλὰς δ᾽ ἀοίνους ἁγνείας ἔχουσιν, ἐν
αἷς ib ee R καὶ μανθάνοντες καὶ διδάσκοντες
τὰ θεῖα διατελοῦσιν. οἱ δὲ βασιλεῖς καὶ μετρητὸν
ἔπινον ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων, ὡς “Ἑκαταῖος
ἱστόρηκεν, ἱερεῖς ὄντες- ἤρξαντο δὲ πίνειν ἀπὸ
Ὑαμμητίχου, πρότερον δ᾽ οὐκ ἔπινον οἶνον οὐδ᾽
ἔσπενδον ὡς φίλιον θεοῖς, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς αἷμα τῶν πο-
λεμησάντων ποτὲ τοῖς θεοῖς, ἐξ ὧν οἴονται πεσόν-
των καὶ τῇ γῆ συμμιγέντων ἀμπέλους γενέσθαι"
0 διὸ καὶ τὸ μεθύειν ἔκφρονας ποιεῖν᾽ καὶ παρα-
πλῆγας, ἅτε δὴ. τῶν προγόνων τοῦ αἵματος ἐμπι-
πλαμένους. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν E USogos ἐν τῇ, δευτέρᾳ
Γῆς Περιόδου λέγεσθαί φησιν οὕτως ὑπὸ τῶν
ἐρέων,
ἡμέρας] ἱερέας Moser; ὑπηρέτας Michael, but ef. Diogenes
Get ες 19 οἴνου δὲ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν μὴ γεύεσθαι,
2 ἄλλοι] ἄλλοτε E. Capps.

8 ποιεῖν Markland: ποιεῖ.
4 Γῆς Pantazides: τῆς,

5 Cf. Aelian, De Natura Animalium, xi. 10.
5 Cf. Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras, 97 and 98, who
says that the Pythagoreans would have nothing to do with

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 353

reputed to be fattening and to cause obesity.” They
do not want Apis to be in this condition, nor them-
selves either ; but rather they desire that their bodies,
the encasement of their souls, shall be well adjusted
and light, and shall not oppress and straiten the divine
element by the predominance and preponderance of
the mortal.

6. As for wine, those who serve the god in Helio-
polis bring none at all into the shrine, since they feel
that it is not seemly to drink in the day-time while
their Lord and King is looking upon them.’ The
others use wine, but in great moderation. They
have many periods of holy living when wine is pro-
hibited, and in these they spend their time exclusively
in studying, learning, and teaching religious matters.
Their kings also were wont to drink a limited quantity ὁ
prescribed by the sacred writings, as Hecataeus 4 has
recorded ; and the kings are priests. The beginning
of their drinking dates from the reign of Psam-
metichus ; before that they did not drink wine nor
use it in libation as something dear to the gods,
thinking it to be the blood of those who had once
battled against the gods, and from whom, when they
had fallen and had become commingled with the earth,
they believed vines to have sprung. This is the reason
why drunkenness drives men out of their senses and
crazes them, inasmuch as they are then filled with the
blood of their forbears. ‘These tales Eudoxus says in
the second book of his World Travels are thus related
by the priests.
wine in the day-time. See also the critical note on the
opposite page.

e Cf. Diodorus, i. ΤΌ, 11,

ἆ Diels, Fraymente der Vorsokratiker, ii. p. 153, Heca-
taeus no. B 11.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(853) 7. ᾿Ἰχθύων δὲ θαλαττίων πάντες μὲν οὐ πάντων
ἀλλ᾽ ἐνίων ἀπέχονται, καθάπερ ᾿Οξυρυγχῖται τῶν
ἀπ᾽ ἀγκίστρου- σεβόμενοι γὰρ τὸν ὀξύρυγχον
ἰχθὺν δεδίασι μή ποτε τὸ ἄγκιστρον οὐ καθαρόν
ἐστι, ὀξυρύγχου περιπεσόντος αὐτῷ. Συηνῖται
δὲ φάγρου' δοκεῖ γὰρ ἐπιόντι τῷ Νείλῳ συν-

, ` A Ν > , La
D επιφαίνεσθαι, καὶ τὴν αὔξησιν ἀσμένοις φράζειν
αὐτάγγελος ὁρώμενος. οἱ δ᾽ ἱερεῖς ἀπέχονται
πάντων: πρώτου δὲ μηνὸς ἐνάτῃ τῶν ἄλλων
Αἰγυπτίων ἑκάστου πρὸ τῆς αὐλείου θύρας ὀπτὸν
ἰχθὺν κατεσθίοντος, οἱ ἱερεῖς οὐ γεύονται μὲν
κατακαίουσι δὲ πρὸ τῶν θυρῶν τοὺς ἐχθῦς δύο
λόγους ἔχοντες, ὧν τὸν μὲν ἱερὸν καὶ περιττὸν

fe 3 7 + a 3 ’
αὖθις ἀναλήψομαι, συνάδοντα τοῖς περὶ ᾿Ὀσίριδος

. - ¢ F [A e > 9 4
καὶ Τυφῶνος ὁσίως φιλοσοφουμένοις: ὁ δ᾽ ἐμφανὴς
καὶ πρόχειρος οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον οὐδ᾽ ἀπερίεργον'
ὄψον ἀποφαίνων" τὸν ἰχθύν, “Ὁμήρῳ μαρτυρεῖ μήτε
Φαίακας τοὺς ἁβροβίους μήτε τοὺς ᾿Ιθακησίους

E ἀνθρώπους νησιώτας ἰχθύσι χρωμένους ποιοῦντι
μήτε τοὺς ᾿Οδυσσέως ἑταίρους ἐν πλῷ τοσούτῳ
καὶ ἐν θαλάττῃ πρὶν εἰς ἐσχάτην ἐλθεῖν ἀπορίαν.
9 ` yA , Η ΜΗ. `
ὅλως δὲ καὶ τὴν θάλατταν ἐκ πύους" ἡγοῦνται Kat

1 ρὐδ᾽ ἀπερίεργον Bentley : οὐδὲ περίεργον.
5 ἀποφαίνων Baxter: ἀποφαίνειν. 3 πύους F.C.B.: πυρὸς.

a Cf. Herodotus, ii. 37.

5 Of. Strabo, xvii. 1. 40 (p. 812); Aelian, De Natura
Animalium, x. 46; Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus,
ii. 39. 5 (p. 34 Potter) ; also 358 s and 380 g, infra.

ε Of, Aelian, De Natura Animalium, x. 19.

4 Cf. Moralia, 729 a.

e Plutarch does not explain this elsewhere (cf. 363 z,
infra), but the reason may be that given by Clement of

Alexandria, Stromateis, vii. 6. 34. 1 (p. 850 Potter), that
fish do not breathe the same air as other living creatures.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 353

7. As for sea-fish, all Egyptians do not abstain
from all of them,? but from some kinds only ; as, for
example, the inhabitants of Oxyrhynchus abstain
from those that are caught with a hook®; for,
inasmuch as they revere the fish called oxyrhynchus
(the pike), they are afraid that the hook may be
unclean, since an oxyrhynchus may have been caught
with it. The people of Syené abstain from the
phagrus¢ (the sea-bream) ; for this fish is reputed to
appear with the oncoming of the Nile, and to be a self-
sent messenger, which, when it is seen, declares to a
glad people the rise of the river. The priests, how-
ever, abstain from all fish ; and on the ninth day of
the first month, when every one of the other Egyptians
eats a broiled fish in front of the outer door of his
house, the priests do not even taste the fish, but burn
them up in front of their doors.¢ For this practice
they have two reasons, one of which is religious and
curious, and I shall discuss it at another time,’ since
it harmonizes with the sacred studies touching Osiris
and Typhon ; the other is obvious and commonplace,
in that it declares that fish is an unnecessary and
superfluous food, and confirms the words of Homer,
who, in his poetry, represents neither the Phaeacians,
who lived amid a refined luxury, nor the Ithacans,
who dwelt on an island, as making any use of fish, nor
did even the companions of Odysseus, while on such
a long voyage and in the midst of the sea, until they
had come to the extremity of want.’ In fine, these
people hold the sea to be derived from purulent

f Homer, Od. iv. 369 and xii. 332. Cf. also Moralia,
730c,p. The facts are as stated, but the deduction that
fishing was despised in Homeric times is not warranted.

μὴ

354

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

παρωρισµένην οὐδὲ μέρος οὐδὲ στοιχεῖον ἀλλ᾽
ἀλλοῖον᾽ περίττωμα διεφθορὸς καὶ νοσῶδες.
~ 4

8. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλογον οὐδὲ μυθῶδες οὐδ᾽ ὑπὸ
δεισιδαιμονίας, ὥσπερ ἔνιοι νομίζουσιν, ἐγκατεστοι-
χειοῦτο ταῖς" ἱερουργίαις, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἠθικὰς
ἔχοντα καὶ χρειώδεις αἰτίας, τὰ δ᾽ οὐκ ἄμοιρα
κοµψότητος ἱστορικῆς ἢ φυσικῆς ἐστιν, οἷον τὸ
περὶ κρομμύου. τὸ γὰρ ἐμπεσεῖν εἲς τὸν ποταμὸν

. > ig r A » ld /
καὶ ἀπολέσθαι τὸν τῆς Ἴσιδος τρόφιμον Δίκτυν
που" κρομμύων ἐπιδραττόμενον ἐσχάτως ἀπίθανον"
e A -
οἱ δ᾽ ἱερεῖς ἀφοσιοῦνται καὶ δυσχεραίνουσι καὶ
τὸ. κρόμμυον παραφυλάττοντες, ὅτι τῆς σελήνης
φθινούσης μόνον εὐτροφεῖν τοῦτο καὶ τεθηλέναι
’ 3» A , yn? ε LA yn?
πέφυκεν. ἔστι δὲ πρόσφορον οὔθ᾽ ἀγνεύουσιν οὔθ
£ ld a A ο - m >; σ z
ἑορτάζουσι, τοῖς μὲν ὅτι διψῆν, τοῖς δ᾽ ὅτι δακρύειν
ποιεῖ τοὺς προσφερομένους.

ε + . . ` p > 7 ~ [1 -

Ομοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν ὃν ἀνίερον ζῷον ἡγοῦνται:
ὡς μάλιστα γὰρ ὀχεύεσθαι δοκεῖ τῆς σελήνης
φθινούσης, καὶ τῶν τὸ γάλα πινόντων ἐξανθεῖ τὰ
σώματα λέπραν καὶ ψωρικὰς τραχύτητας. τὸν δὲ
/ a , ο ae 3 / `
λόγον, ὃν θύοντες ἅπαξ' ὃν ἐν πανσελήνῳ καὶ
ἐσθίοντες ἐπιλέγουσιν, ὡς ὁ Τυφὼν v διώκων
πρὸς τὴν πανσέληνον εὗρε τὴν ξυλίνην σορόν, ἐν
ᾗ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ᾿Ὀσίριδος ἔκειτο, καὶ διέρριψεν,

1 ἀλλ᾽ ἀλλοῖον] ἀλλ᾽ οἷον Bases, but see 729 B where ἀλλότριον
stands in the parallel passage.

3 ταῖς added by Wyttenbach.

3 που F.C.B.: οὐ.

4 ἅπαξ] ἅπαξ τοῦ ἔτους Squire from Ael. Π. 4. x. 16.

5 καὶ ἐσθίοντες Bentley: κατεσθίοντες.

l
|
|
j
|
|

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 353-354

matter, and to lie outside the confines of the world
and not to be a part of it or an element, but a corrupt
and pestilential residuum of a foreign nature.*

8. Nothing that is irrational or fabulous or prompted
by superstition, as some believe, has ever been given
a place in their rites, but in them are some things that
have moral and practical values, and others that are
not without their share in the refinements of histor
or natural science, as, for example, that which has
to do with the onion. For the tale that Dictys, the
nurseling of Isis, in reaching for a clump of onions,
fell into the river and was drowned is extremely in-
credible. But the priests keep themselves clear of
the onion ® and detest it and are careful to avoid it,
because it is the only plant that naturally thrives and
flourishes in the waning of the moon. It is suitable
for neither fasting nor festival, because in the one
case it causes thirst and in the other tears for those
who partake of it.

In like manner they hold the pig to be an unclean
animal,* because it is reputed to be most inclined
to mate in the waning of the moon, and because the
bodies of those who drink its milk break out with
leprosy and scabrous itching. The story which they
relate at their only sacrifice and eating of a pig at the
time of the full moon, how Typhon, while he was
pursuing a boar by the light of the full moon, found
the wooden coffin in which lay the body of Osiris,
which he rent to pieces and scattered,’ they do not

a Cf. Moralia, 729 B.

> Cf. Aulus Gellius, xx. 8,

¢ Cf. Herodotus, ii. 47.

4 Cf. Moralia, 670 Ff; Aelian, De Natura Animalium,
x. 16: Tacitus, Histories, v. 4.

e Of. 358 a, infra.

PLUTARCH'S MORALIA.

> / 3 / ΄ 159
(964) οὐ πάντες ἀποδέχονται, παρακουσµάτιον ὥσπερ
ἄλλα πολλὰ νομίζοντες.

᾿Αλλὰ τρυφήν τε καὶ πολυτέλειαν καὶ ἡδυπάθειαν
οὕτω προβάλλεσθαι τοὺς παλαιοὺς λέγουσιν, ὥστε

` Ζ ” 22 z 2 Αα ε.α a g
καὶ στήλην ἔφασαν" ἐν Θήβαις ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ κεῖσθαι
κατάρας ἐγγεγραμμένας ἔχουσαν κατὰ Μείνιος τοῦ

Β βασιλέως, ὃς πρῶτος Αἰγυπτίους τῆς ἀπλούτου
.
καὶ ἀχρημάτου καὶ λιτῆς ἀπήλλαξε διαίτης.
λέγεται δὲ καὶ Τέχνακτις ὁ Βοκχόρεως πατὴρ
στρατεύων ἐπ᾿ "Άραβας, τῆς ἀποσκευῆς βρα-
’ ε la m t [4 P:
δυνούσης, ἡδέως τῷ προστυχόντι σιτίῳ χρησά-
µενος, εἶτα κοιμηθεὶς βαθὺν ὕπνον ἐπὶ στιβάδος,
ἀσπάσασθαι τὴν εὐτέλειαν" ἐκ δὲ τούτου καταρά-
σασθαι. τῷ Mein,’ καὶ τῶν ἱερέων ἐπαινεσάντων
στηλιτεῦσαι τὴν κατάραν.

9. Of δὲ βασιλεῖς ἀπεδείκνυντο μὲν ἐκ τῶν
ἱερέων ἢ τῶν μαχίμων, τοῦ μὲν δι᾽ ἀνδρείαν τοῦ
δὲ διὰ σοφίαν γένους ἀξίωμα καὶ τιμὴν ἔχοντος.
ὃ δ᾽ ἐκ μαχύμων ἀποδεδειγμένος εὐθὺς ἐγίγνετο τῶν

A - ’

C ἱερέων καὶ μετεῖχε τῆς φιλοσοφίας, ἐπικεκρυμ-
+ . À A 5Q . + 3 ὃ . >
μένης τὰ πολλὰ μύθοις καὶ λόγοις ἀμυδρὰς ép-

+ ~ 3 tA ` La E ο ο
φάσεις τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ διαφάσεις ἔχουσιν, ὥσπερ
ἀμέλει καὶ παραδηλοῦσιν αὐτοὶ πρὸ τῶν ἑερῶν τὰς

1 παρακουσμάτιον Xylander: παρακουσμάτων.

3 ἔφασαν) ἔστησαν Sieveking, omitting κεῖσθαι.
σα" ΚΠΣ
8 Mei. Baxter: Μεινέῳ.

a Usually known as Menes. The name is variously
written by Greek authors as Min, Minaeus, Meneus, Menas.
According to tradition he was the first king of Egypt. His
reign is put circa 3500 or 3400 s.c. Cf. Herodotus, ii, 4.
In Diodorus, i. 45, is found this same story.

è Tefnakhte (also spelled Tnephachthos or Tnephachtho
by Greek writers), after much fighting, made himself king
of Lower Egypt circa 725 B.C.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 354

all accept, believing it to be a misrepresentation, even
` as many other things are.

Moreover, they relate that the ancient Egyptians
put from them luxury, lavishness, and self-indulgence,
to such a degree that they used to say that there was
a pillar standing in the temple at Thebes which had
inscribed upon it curses against Meinis,* their king,
who was the first to lead the Egyptians to quit their
frugal, thrifty, and simple manner of living. It is
said also that Technactis,® the father of Bocchoris,¢
when he was leading his army against the Arabians,
because his baggage was slow in arriving, found
pleasure in eating such common food as was available,
and afterwards slept soundly on a bedding of straw,
and thus became fond of frugal living ; as the result,
he invoked a curse on Meinis, and, with the approval
of the priests, had a pillar set up with the curse
inscribed upon it.

9. The kings were appointed from the priests or
from the military class, since the military class had
eminence and honour because of valour, and the
priests because of wisdom. But he who was appointed
from the military class was at once made one of the
priests and a participant in their philosophy, which,
for the most part, is veiled in myths and in words
containing dim reflexions and adumbrations of the
truth, as they themselves intimate beyond question
by appropriately placing sphinxes* before their

è Bekneranef, king of Egypt cirea 718-712 B.c., was,
according to Greek tradition, a wise and just ruler. An
apocryphal story about him may be found in Aelian, De
Natura Animalium, xii. 3.

4 Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, v. 5. 31, chap. ὅ
(p. 664 Potter).

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(964) σφίγγας ἐπιεικῶς ἱστάντες, ὡς αἰνιγματώδη σοφίαν
τῆς. θεολογίας αὐτῶν ἐχούσης. τὸ δ᾽ ἐν Σάει τῆς
ΑΡ. A at . Ἱ E 3 x

vas, ἣν' καὶ “low νομίζουσιν, €dos ἐπιγραφὴν
εἶχε τοιαύτην “ ἐγώ εἰμι πᾶν τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ ὂν
καὶ ἐσόμενον καὶ τὸν ἐμὸν πέπλον οὐδείς πω
θνητὸς ἀπεκάλυψεν."
"Ἔτι δὲ τῶν πολλῶν νομιζόντων ἴδιον παρ᾽
Αἰγυπτίοις ὄνομα τοῦ Διὸς εἶναι τὸν ᾿Αμοῦν (6
΄ ς al ’ . .
παράγοντες ἡμεῖς "Άμμωνα λέγομεν), Μανεθὼς μὲν
Ὁ ὁ Σεβεννύτης τὸ κεκρυμμένον οἴεται καὶ τὴν
$. e Ν , A - "~ €
κρύψιν ὑπὸ ταύτης δηλοῦσθαι τῆς φωνῆς' Exa-
ταῖος δ᾽ ὁ ᾿Αβδηρίτης φησὶ τούτῳ καὶ πρὸς ἀλλή-
- ? - κ)
λους τῷ ῥήματι χρῆσθαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, ὅταν
Twa προσκαλῶνται: προσκλητικὴν γὰρ εἶναι τὴν
φωνήν. διὸ τὸν πρῶτον θεόν, ὃν τῷ παντὶ τὸν
αὐτὸν νοµίζουσιν, ὡς ἀφανῆ καὶ κεκρυμμένον ὄντα
προσκαλούμενοι καὶ παρακαλοῦντες ἐμφανῆ γε-
/ ` ~ > - > - LA ε A
νέσθαι καὶ δῆλον αὐτοῖς, ᾿Αμοῦν λέγουσιν’ ἡ μὲν
D 3 z ~ . . m + 3 ’
οὖν εὐλάβεια. τῆς περὶ τὰ θεῖα σοφίας Αἰγυπτίων
τοσαύτη ἦν.
10. Μαρτυροῦσι δὲ καὶ τῶν “Ἑλλήνων οἱ σοφώ-
E τατοι, Σόλων Θαλῆς Πλάτων Εὔδοξος Πυθαγόρας,
e 3 EA ΄ . - > [4
ὡς δ᾽ ἔνιοί φασι, καὶ Λυκοῦργος, εἰς Αἴγυπτον
ἀφικόμενοι καὶ συγγενόμενοι τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν. Eù-
δοξον μὲν οὖν Χονούφεώς φασι Μεμφίτου δι-
ακωῦσαι, Σόλωνα δὲ Σόγχιτος Σαΐτου, Πυθαγόραν
δ᾽ Οἰνούφεως “Ἠλιοπολίτου. μάλιστα δ᾽ οὗτος,
Fós ἔοικε, θαυμασθεὶς καὶ θαυμάσας τοὺς ἄνδρας
1 ἣν Aldine ed.: ὃ ἣν.
3 Σεβεννύτης] often written σεβεννίτης.
3 ὃν added by Bentley.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 354

shrines to indicate that their religious teaching has in
it an enigmatical sort of wisdom. In Sais the statue
of Athena, whom they believe to be Isis, bore the
inscription : ‘‘ I am all that has been, and is, and shall
be, and my robe no mortal has yet uncovered.”

Moreover, most people believe that Amoun is the
name given to Zeus in the land of the Egyptians,’ a
name which we, with a slight alteration, pronounce
Ammon. But Manetho of Sebennytus thinks that
the meaning “ concealed ” or “ concealment ” lies in
this word. Hecataeus® of Abdera, however, says
that the Egyptians use this expression one to another
whenever they call to anyone, for the word is a form
of address. When they, therefore, address the
supreme god, whom they believe to be the same as
the Universe, as if he were invisible and concealed,
and implore him to make himself visible and manifest
to them, they use the word “ Amoun’”’; so great, then,
was the circumspection of the Egyptians in thcir
wisdom touching all that had to do with the gods.

10. Witness to this also are the wisest of the
Greeks : Solon, Thales, Plato, Eudoxus, Pythagoras,
who came to Egypt and consorted with the priests 5:
and in this number some would include Lycurgus
also. Eudoxus, they say, received instruction from
Chonuphis of Memphis, Solon from Sonchis of Sais,
and Pythagoras from Oenuphis of Heliopolis. Pyth-
agoras, as it seems, was greatly admired, and he also
greatly admired the Egyptian priests, and, copying

‘a Gf, Herodotus, ii. 49.
ἐν oe Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, Hecataeus (60),
No. B, 8.

e Cf. Diodorus, i. 96 and 98; Clement of Alexandria,
Stromateis, i. 69. 1, chap. 15 (p. 356 Potter); Moralia,
578 τ, and Life of Solon, chap. xxvi. (99 €).

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

ἀπεμιμήσατο τὸ συμβολικὸν αὐτῶν καὶ μυστηριῶ-
2 ’ ὃς A / ~ .
δες, ἀναμείξας αἰνίγμασι τὰ δόγματα: τῶν γὰρ
καλουμένων ἱερογλυφικῶν γραμμάτων οὐδὲν ἀπο-
λείπει τὰ πολλὰ τῶν Πυθαγορικῶν παραγγελμάτων,
et > 2 6 N 3 bi aN δύ yy i > μα
οἷόν ἐστι τό “ μὴ ἐσθίειν ἐπὶ δίφρου 7 “ μηδ᾽ ἐπὶ
χοίνικος καθῆσθαι’ “ μηδὲ φοίνικα φυτοτομεῖν ο
΄ ΄
7 μηδὲ πῦρ μαχαίρᾳ" σκαλεύειν ἐν οἰκίᾳ. i
οκῶ δ᾽ ἔγωγε καὶ τὸ τὴν μονάδα τοὺς ἄνδρας
> Ζ » ή . ` 79.3 3
ὀνομάζειν ᾿Απόλλωνα καὶ τὴν δυάδα Ἄρτεμιν,
᾿Αθηνᾶν δὲ τὴν ἑβδομάδα, Ποσειδῶνα δὲ τὸν πρῶ-
τον κύβον, ἐοικέναι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ἱδρυμένοις
καὶ γλυφομένοις" νὴ Δία καὶ γραφομένοις. τὸν γὰρ
βασιλέα καὶ κύριον "Όσιριν ὀφθαλμῷ καὶ σκήπτρῳ
+
355 γράφουσιν: ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ τοὔνομα διερμηνεύουσι
ld e A . — He Eppa ?
πολυόφθαλμον, ὡς τοῦ μὲν BF τὸ πολὺ τοῦ δ᾽ ἴρι
4 /.
τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν Αἰγυπτίᾳ γλώττῃ φράζοντος᾽ τὸν
δ᾽ οὐρανὸν ὡς ἀγήρων δι ἀιδιότητα καρδίᾳ θυῶν"
δε ς Ph > ` , ΜΝ
ἐσχάρας ὑποκειμένης. ἐν δὲ Θήβαις εἰκόνες ἦσαν
ἀνακείμεναι δικαστῶν ἄχειρες, ἡ δὲ τοῦ ἀρχιδικα-
στοῦ καταμύουσα τοῖς ὄμμασιν, ὡς ἄδωρον ἅμα τὴν
δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀνέντευκτον οὖσαν.
Τοῖς δὲ μαχίμοις κάνθαρος ἦν γλυφὴ σφραγῖδος:
1 φυτοτομεῖν F.C.B. : φυτεύειν.
a ία 5 f.
2 μαχαίρᾳ Bernardakis: μαχαίρῃ.
3 τὴν δυάδα Squire: δυάδα τὴν.
4 γλυφομένοις F.C.B.: δρωμένοις,
6 φράζοντος Baxter: φράζοντες.
6 θυῶν F.C.B.: θυμό».

ee
a For these precepts cf. Moralia, 12 £-F, and Life of Numa,
chap. xiv. (69 ο): Athenaeus, x. 77 (452 p): Tamblichus,
Protrepticus, chap. xxi. (pp. 131-160); Diogenes Laertius,
viii. 17-18.
è Cf. 365 B, infra, and Xenophon, Anabasis, ii. 3. 16.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 354-355

their symbolism and occult teachings, incorporated
his doctrines in enigmas. As a matter of fact most
of the Pythagorean precepts ὁ do not at all fall short
of the writings that are called hieroglyphs ; such, for
example, as these: “ Do not eat upon a stool”;
“ Do not sit upon a peck measure”; “ Do not lop
off the shoots of a palm-tree ὃ”: “ Do not poke a fire
with a sword within the house.”

For my part, I think also that their naming unity
Apollo, duality Artemis, the hebdomad Athena, and
the first cube Poseidon,* bears a resemblance to the
statues and even to the sculptures and paintings with
which their shrines are embellished. For their King
and Lord Osiris they portray by means of an eye
and a sceptre; there are even some who explain
the meaning of the name as “ many-eyed”¢ on
the theory that os in the Egyptian language means
“many ” and iri “ eye”; and the heavens, since
they are ageless because of their eternity, they por-
tray by a heart with a censer beneath.” In Thebes
there were set up statues of judges without hands,
and the statue of the chief justice had its eyes closed,
to indicate that justice is not influenced by gifts or by
intercession.”

The military class had their seals engraved with
the form of a beetle” ; for there is no such thing as a

¢ Cf., for example, 381 ε and 393 π, infra, and Iamblichus,
Comment. in Nichomachi Arithmetica, 14.

4 Oceasionally found on the monuments; ο). 371 E,
infra.

“* Cf. Diodorus, 1. 11.

? Cf. Horapollo, Hieroglyphics, i. 99.

9 Cf. Diodorus, 1. 48. 6.

* The Egyptian scarab, or sacred beetle. Cf. Pliny,
Nat. Hist. xxx. 13 (30).

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(355) οὐ γὰρ ἔστι κάνθαρος. θῆλυς, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἄρσενες.
τίκτουσι δὲ τὸν γόνον εἰς σφαιροποίησιν,' οὐ
τροφῆς μᾶλλον ὕλην ἢ γενέσεως χώραν παρα-
σκευάζοντες,

B 11. Ὅταν οὖν ἃ μυθολογοῦσιν Αἰγύπτιοι περὶ
τῶν θεῶν ἀκούσῃς, πλάνας καὶ διαμελισμοὺς | καὶ
πολλὰ τοιαῦτα. παθήματα, δεῖ τῶν «προειρημένων
μνημονεύειν καὶ «μηδὲν οἴεσθαι τούτων λέγεσθαι
γεγονὸς οὕτω καὶ πεπραγμένον. οὐ γὰρ τὸν κύνα
κυρίως Ἑρμῆν 7 λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ζῴου τὸ φυλα-
κτικὸν καὶ τὸ «ἄγρυπνον καὶ τὸ φιλόσοφον, γνώσει
καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ τὸ pov καὶ τὸ ἐχθρὸν ὁρίζοντος, ᾗ
φησιν ὁ Πλάτων, τῷ λογιωτάτῳ τῶν θεῶν συν-
οικειοῦσιν 5 οὐδὲ τὸν ἥλιον ἐκ λωτοῦ νομίζουσι

0 βρέφος ἀνίσχειν νεογιλόν, ἀλλ᾽ οὕτως ἀνατολὴν
ἡλίου γράφουσι, τὴν ἐξ ὑγρῶν ἡλίου γιγνομένην
ἄναψιν αἰνιττόμενοι. καὶ γὰρ τὸν ὠμότατον | Περ-
σῶν βασιλέα καὶ φοβερώτατον Ὦχον ἀποκτείναντα
πολλούς, τέλος δὲ καὶ τὸν Απιν ἀποσφάξαντα καὶ
καταδειπνήσαντα μετὰ τῶν φίλων, ἐκάλεσαν “ ud-
xupav,” καὶ καλοῦσι μέχρι νῦν οὕτως ἐν τῷ κατα-
λόγῳ τῶν βασιλέων, οὐ κυρίως δήπου τὴν οὐσίαν

1 εἰς σφαιροποίησιν F.C.B.: ὡς σφαιροποιοῦσιν. (τ. y. ἀφιέντες
εἰς ὄνθον ὃν σφαιροποιοῦσιν Pohlenz.)
3 παθήματα] μαθήματα most Mss. π

3 συνοικειοῦσιν Baxter: κυνικειοῦσιν.

o Οἱ 381 a, infra. The idea that all beetles are male
was very common in antiquity; cf., for example, Aelian,
De Natura Animalium, x. 15; Porphyry, De Abstineniia,
iv. 9. .

> They are σκατοφάγοι,

ο Of. Plato's Republic, 375 =, and the note in Adam’s
edition (Cambridge, 1902).

4 Cf. 368 τ and 400 a, infra.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 355

female beetle, but all beetles are male.” They eject
their sperm into a round mass which they construct,
since they are no less occupied in arranging for a
supply of food ® than in preparing a place to rear their
young.

11. Therefore, Clea, whenever you hear the tradi-
tional tales which the Egyptians tell about the gods,
their wanderings, dismemberments, and many experi-
ences of this sort, you must remember what has been
already said, and you must not think that any of
these tales actually happened in the manner in which
they are related. The facts are that they do not call
the dog by the name Hermes as his proper name,
but they bring into association with the most astute
of their gods that animal’s watchfulness and wake-
fulness and wisdom, since he distinguishes between
what is friendly and what is hostile by his knowledge
of the one and his ignorance of the other, as Plato ὁ
remarks. Nor, again, do they believe that the sun
rises as a new-born babe from the lotus, but they
portray the rising of the sun in this manner to indi-
cate allegorically the enkindling of the sun from the
waters.? So also Ochus, the most cruel and terrible
of the Persian kings, who put many to death and
finally slaughtered the Apis 5 and ate him for dinner
in the company of his friends, the Egyptians called
the “ Sword ” ; and they call him by that name even
to this day in their list of kings.’ But manifestly they

¢ The sacred bull.

7 Both Cambyses and Ochus are said to have killed the
sacred bull Apis; cf. 368 F, infra, and Herodotus, iii. 29,
for Cambyses ; for Ochus, 363 c, infra, and Aelian, Varia
Historia, iv. 8. In De Natura Animalium, x. 28, Aelian
says that both Cambyses and Ochus were guilty of this
offence.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(355) αὐτοῦ onpaivovres, ἀλλὰ τοῦ τρόπου τὴν σκληρό-
τητα καὶ κακίαν ὀργάνῳ φονικῷ παρεικάζοντες.
οὕτω δὴ τὰ περὶ θεῶν ἀκούσασα, καὶ δεχομένη
παρὰ τῶν ἐξηγουμένων τὸν μῦθον ὁ ὁσίως καὶ φιλο-

D σόφως, καὶ δρῶσα μὲν ἀεὶ καὶ διαφυλάττουσα τῶν
ἱερῶν τὰ νενομισμένα, τοῦ. δ᾽ ἀληθῆ δόξαν ἔχειν
περὶ θεῶν μηδὲν. οἰομένη μᾶλλον αὐτοῖς μήτε
θύσειν μήτε ποιήσευ᾽' κεχαρισμένον, οὐδὲν av?
ἔλαττον ἀποφεύγοιοὶ κακὸν ἀθεότητος δεισιδαι-
μονίαν.

19. Λέξεται δ᾽ ὁ μῦθος οὗτος ἐν βραχυτάτοις ὡς
ἔνεστι μάλιστα, τῶν ἀχρήστων σφόδρα καὶ περιτ-
τῶν ἀφαιρεθέντων.

Τῆς 'Ῥέας φασὶ κρύφα τῷ Κρόνῳ συγγενομένης
αἰσθόμενον ἐπαράσασθαι τὸν Ἥλιον αὐτῇ μήτε μηνὶ
μήτ᾽ ἐνιαυτῷ τεκεῖν: ἐρῶντα δὲ τὸν Ἑρμῆν τῆς
θεοῦ συνελθεῖν, εἶτα παίξαντα πεττία; πρὸς τὴν
σελήνην καὶ ἀφελόντα τῶν φώτων ἑκάστου τὸ
ἑβδομηκοστὸν ἐκ πάντων ἡμέρας πέντε συνελεῖν'

E καὶ ταῖς ἑξήκοντα καὶ τριακοσίαις ἐπαγαγεῖν,᾽ ἃς
νῦν ἐπαγομένας Αἰγύπτιοι καλοῦσι καὶ τῶν θεῶν
γενεθλίους ἄγουσι. τῇ μὲν πρώτῃ τὸν Ὄσιριν

1 πονήσειν Diibner: ποιήσειν αὐτοῖς.

2 ἂν added by F.C.B.

3 ἀποφεύγοιο F.C.B.: ἀποφεύξοιο.

* λέξεται F.C.B.: λέγεται (λεγέσθω Paton; but the copyist
evidently exchanged a letter with ἀποφεύγοιο).

5 merria Hatzidakis: πέττια.

€ συνελείν Xylander: συνελθεῖν.
Ἰ ἐπαγαγεῖν Reiske: ἐπάγειν.

a Cf. Moralia, 1645, 165 c, 378 Α, 379 £E.

+ Cf. Moralia, 429r; Diodorus, 1. 13. 4; Eusebius,
Praeparatio Evang. ii. 1. 1-32.

Plutarch evidently does not reckon the ἕνη καὶ νέα (the
30

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 355

do not mean to apply this name to his actual being ;
they but liken the stubbornness and wickedness in
his character to an instrument of murder. If, then,
you listen to the stories about the gods in this way,
accepting them from those who interpret the story
reverently and philosophically, and if you always per-
form and observe the established rites of worship,
and believe that no sacrifice that you can offer, no
deed that you may do will be more likely to find
favour with the gods than your belief in their true
nature, you may avoid superstition which is no less
an evil than atheism.*

12. Here follows the story related in the briefest
possible words with the omission of everything that
is merely unprofitable or superfluous :

They say that the Sun, when he became aware of
Rhea’s intercourse with Cronus,® invoked a curse upon
her that she should not give birth to a child in any
month or any year; but Hermes, being enamoured
of the goddess, consorted with her. Later, playing
at draughts with the moon, he won from her the
seventieth part of each of her periods of illumination,°
and from all the winnings he composed five days, and
intercalated them as an addition to the three hundred
and sixty days. The Egyptians even now call these
five days intercalated? and celebrate them as the
birthdays of the gods. They relate that on the first

day when the old moon changed to the new) as a period of
illumination, since the light given by the moon at that time
is practically negligible. An intimation of this is given in
his Life of Solon, chap. xxv. (92 c). Cf. also Plato, Cratylus,
409 g, and the scholium on Aristophanes’ Clouds, 1186.
One seventieth of 12 lunar months of 29 days each (348
days) is very nearly five days.
4 Cf. Herodotus, ii. 4.
31

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

γενέσθαι, καὶ «φωνὴν αὐτῷ τεχθέντι συνεκπεσεῖν ὧς
ὁ πάντων" «κύριος εἰς φῶς πρόεισιν. ἔνιοι δὲ Πα-
μύλην" τινὰ λέγουσιν ἐ ἐν Θήβαις ὑδρευόμενον" ἐκ τοῦ
ἱεροῦ τοῦ Διὸς φωνὴν ἀκοῦσαι διακελευομένην d dv-
ειπεῖν μετὰ βοῆς ὅτι μέγας βασιλεὺς εὐεργέτης
Ὄσιρις γέγονε" καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θρέψαι τὸν ΄σιριν,
ἐγχειρίσαντος" αὐτῷ τοῦ Κρόνου, καὶ τὴν τῶν
Παμυλίων" ἑορτὴν αὐτῷ τελεῖσθαι φαλληφορίοις è ἐοι-
F κυῖαν. τῇ δὲ δευτέρᾳ τὸν ᾿Αρούηριν, ὃ ov ᾿Απόλλωνα,
ὃν καὶ πρεσβύτερον ` Ὧρον é ἔνιοι καλοῦσι’ τῇ τρίτῃ
δὲ Τυφῶνα μὴ καιρῷ μηδὲ κατὰ χώραν, ἀλλ᾽ ἆ ἀναρ-
ρήξαντα πληγῇ διὰ τῆς πλευρᾶς ἐξαλέσθαι”' τετάρτῃ"
δὲ τὴν Ἶσιν ἐν πανύγροις γενέσθαι" τῇ δὲ πέμπτῃ
Νέφθυν, ἣν καὶ Τελευτὴν καὶ ᾿Αφροδίτην, ἔνιοι δὲ
καὶ Νίκην ὀνομάζουσιν. εἶναι δὲ τὸν μὲν Ὄσιριν
ἐξ Ἡλίου καὶ τὸν ᾿Αρούηρυ, ἐκ δ᾽ "Ἑρμοῦ τὴν
356 Ἶσιν, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Κρόνου τὸν Τυφῶνα καὶ τὴν Νέ-
φθυν, διὸ καὶ τὴν τρίτην ' τῶν ἐπαγομένων ἀποφράδα
νομίζοντες οἱ i βασιλεῖς οὐκ ἐχρημάτιζον οὐδ᾽ ἐθερά-
πευον αὐτοὺς μέχρι νυκτός. γήμασθαιζ δὲ τῷ
Τυφῶνι τὴν Νέφθυν, Ἶσιν δὲ καὶ σιρυ ἐρῶντας
ἀλλήλων καὶ πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι κατὰ γαστρὸς ὑπὸ

1 ὁ πάντων Reiske: ἁπάντων.
2 Παμύλην . . . Παμυλίων] Παμμύλην . . . Παμμυλίων L.
Dindorf.
3 ὑδρευόμενον Baxter: ὑδρευομένην (or else αὐτῷ in the fourth
line infra must be changed to αὐτῇ).
4 ἐγχειρίσαντος Salmasius: ἐγχειρήσαντος.
ὅ ἐξαλέσθαι Reiske: ἐξάλλεσθαι.
8 τετάρτῃ] τῇ τετάρτῃ to correspond with the other four?
7 γήμασθαι Xylander: τιμᾶσθαι.

~a What is known about Pamyles (or Paamyles or Pam-
myles), a Priapean god of the Egyptians, may be found in
Kock, Com. Att. Frag. ii. p. 289. Cf. also 365 s, infra,

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 355-356

of these days Osiris was born, and at the hour of his
birth a voice issued forth saying, “ The Lord of All
advances to the light.” But some relate that a certain
Pamyles,* while he was drawing water in Thebes,
heard a voice issuing from the shrine of Zeus, which
bade him proclaim with a loud voice that a mighty
and beneficent king, Osiris, had been born; and for
this Cronus entrusted to him the child Osiris, which
he brought up. It is in his honour that the festival
of Pamylia is celebrated, a festival which resembles
the phallic processions. On the second of these days
Arueris was born whom they call Apollo, and some call
him also the elder Horus. On the third day Typhon
was born, but not in due season or manner, but with
a blow he broke through his mother’s side and leapt
forth. On the fourth day Isis was born in the regions
that are ever moist’; and on the fifth Nephthys, to
whom they give the name of Finality ὁ and the name
of Aphrodité, and some also the name of Victory.
There is also a tradition that Osiris and Arueris were
sprung from the Sun, Isis from Hermes,? and Typhon
and Nephthys from Cronus. For this reason the kings
considered the third of the intercalated days as in-
auspicious, and transacted no business on that day,
nor did they give any attention to their bodies until
nightfall. They relate, moreover, that Nephthys
became the wife of Typhon ¢ ; but Isis and Osiris were
enamoured of each other’ and consorted together in

d The meaning is doubtful, but Isis as the goddess of
vegetation, of the Nile, and of the sea, might very naturally
be associated with moisture.

ο Cf. 366 B and 375 B, infra.

4 Cf. 352 a, supra,

* Cf. 375 B, infra.

_ 1 978 B, infra.
83

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(356) σκότῳ συνεῖναι. ἔνιοι δέ φασι καὶ τὸν ᾿Αρούηριν
οὕτω γεγονέναι καὶ καλεῖσθαι πρεσβύτερον ρον
ὑπ᾽ Αἰγυπτίων, ᾿Απόλλωνα δ᾽ ὑφ᾽ "Ἑλλήνων.

¥ 3 a > ο .
13. Βασιλεύοντα δ᾽ "Όσιρῳ Αἰγυπτίους μὲν
> ` 3 ’ F . + :3 z
εὐθὺς ἀπόρου βίου καὶ θηριώδους ἀπαλλάξαι kap-
πούς τε δείξαντα καὶ νόμους θέμενον αὐτοῖς καὶ
8 AY ὃ δ ΄ 1 ιό ο 8 4 A A
B θεοὺς διδάξαντα τιμᾶν: ὕστερον δὲ γῆν πᾶσαν
τ + > “- 3 F A e
ἡμερούμενον ἐπελθεῖν ἐλάχιστα μὲν ὅπλων ĝen-
θέντα, πειθοῖ δὲ τοὺς πλείστους καὶ λόγῳ μετ᾽ ᾠδῆς
καὶ πάσης μουσικῆς θελγομένους προσαγόµενον:
a τ t ΄ ` 3 x τ
ὅθεν Ἕλλησι δόξαι Διονύσῳ τὸν αὖτον εἶναι.
Τυφῶνα δ᾽ ἀπόντος μὲν οὐδὲν νεωτερίζειν, διὰ τὸ
‘ ΩΙ ο 2 ΄ ` , 3
τὴν Ἶσιν εὖ μάλα φυλάττεσθαι καὶ προσέχει; ἐγ-
κρατῶς ἔχουσαν} ἐπανελθόντι δὲ δόλον μηχανᾶ-
σθαι, συνωμότας ἄνδρας ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ δύο
πεποιημένον καὶ συνεργὸν ἔχοντα βασίλισσαν ἐξ
Αἰθιοπίας παροῦσαν, ἣν ὀνομάζουσιν ᾿Ασώ: τοῦ
8 , > Γὰ , Ki ~ .
CS ᾿Ὀσίριδος ἐκμετρησάμενον λάθρα τὸ σῶμα καὶ
κατασκευάσαντα πρὸς τὸ μέγεθος λάρνακα καλὴν
καὶ κεκοσμημένην περιττῶς εἰσενεγκεῖν εἰς τὸ συμ-
πόσιον. ἠσθέντων δὲ τῇ ὄψει καὶ θαυμασάντων,
ὑποσχέσθαι τὸν. Τυφῶνα μετὰ παιδιᾶς, ὃς ἂν ἐγ-
ΠΗ ! 4 7 A ΣΑ p
κατακλιθεὶς} ἐξισωθείη, διδόναι δῶρον αὐτῷ τὴν
λάρνακα. πειρωμένων δὲ πάντων καθ᾽ ἕκαστον, ὡς
> 4 > d 3 7 ` ”.
οὐδεὶς ἐνήρμοττεν, ἐμβάντα τὸν Όσιριν κατακλι-
1 διδάξαντα Markland: δείξαντα.
3 ἔχουσαν] ἄρχουσαν Markland from Diodorus, i. 17.
3 ἐγκατακλιθεὶς Markland: ἐγκατακλεισθεὶς.

4 ἐξισωθείη] ἐξισωθῇ Bernardakis, but the potential use of
the optative with a relative is well established.

a Cf. Diodorus, i. 13-16.
5 Of. Diodorus, i. 11. 1-3; 18. 5-6; 20. 3-4.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 356

the darkness of the womb before their birth. Some
say that Arueris came from this union and was called
the elder Horus by the Egyptians, but Apollo by the
Greeks. |

13. One of the first acts related of Osiris in his
reign was to deliver the Egyptians from their desti-
tute and brutish manner of living.” This he did by
showing them the fruits of cultivation, by giving them
laws, and by teaching them to honour the gods.
Later he travelled over the whole earth civilizing it?
without the slightest need of arms, but most of the
peoples he won over to his way by the charm of his
persuasive discourse combined with song and all
manner of music. Hence the Greeks came to identify
him with Dionysus.¢

During his absence the tradition is that Typhon
attempted nothing revolutionary because Isis, who
was in control, was vigilant and alert ; but when he
returned home Typhon contrived a treacherous plot
against him and formed a group of conspirators
seventy-two in number. He had also the co-operation
of a queen from Ethiopia ? who was there at the time
and whose name they report as Aso. Typhon, having
secretly measured Osiris’s body and having made ready
a beautiful chest of corresponding size artistically
ornamented, caused it to be brought into the room
where the festivity was in progress. The company was
much pleased at the sight of it and admired it greatly,
whereupon Typhon jestingly promised to present it
‘to the man who should find the chest to be exactly his
length when he lay down in it. They all tried it in
turn, but no one fitted it; then Osiris got into it and

ε Cf. 362 B, 364 v-¥, infra, and Herodotus, 11. 42 and 144.
ἆ Cf. 366 c, infra,
35

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(356) θῆναι. τοὺς δὲ συνόντας! ἐπιδραμόντας ἐπιρράξαι"

τὸ πῶμα καὶ τὰ μὲν γόμφοις καταλαβόντας ἔξωθεν
τῶν δὲ θερμοῦ μολίβδου" καταχεαμένους" ἐπὶ τὸν
ποταμὸν ἐξενεγκεῖν καὶ μεθεῖναι διὰ τοῦ Τανιτικοῦ"
στόματος εἰς τὴν θάλατταν, ὃ διὰ τοῦτο μισητὸν
ἔτι νῦν καὶ κατάπτυστον ὀνομάζευ» Αἰγυπτίους.
ταῦτα δὲ πραχθῆναι. λέγουσιν ἑβδόμῃ ἐπὶ δέκα
μηνὸς ᾿Αθύρ, ἐν ᾧ τὸν σκορπίον ὁ ἥλιος διέξεισιν,
ὄγδοον᾽ ἔτος καὶ εἰκοστὸν ἐκεῖνο" βασιλεύοντος
᾿Οσίριδος. ἔνιοι δὲ βεβιωκέναι φασὶν αὐτόν, οὐ
βεβασιλευκέναι χρόνον τοσοῦτον.

14. Πρώτων δὲ τῶν τὸν περὶ Χέμμιν" οἰκούντων
τόπον Πανῶν καὶ Σατύρων τὸ πάθος αἰσθομένων
καὶ λόγον ἐμβαλόντων περὶ τοῦ γεγονότος, τὰς μὲν
αἰφνιδίους. τῶν ὄχλων ταραχὰς καὶ πτοήσεις ἔτι.
νῦν διὰ τοῦτο πανικὰς προσαγορεύεσθαι" τὴν δ᾽ Ἶσιν
αἰσθομένην κείρασθαι’ μὲν ἐνταῦθα τῶν πλοκάμων
ἕνα καὶ πένθιμον στολὴν ἀναλαβεῖν, 6 ὅπου τῇ πόλεω
μέχρι; νῦν ὄνομα Κοπτώ. ἕτεροι δὲ τοὔνομα σημαί-

E vew οἴονται στέρησιν: τὸ γὰρ ἀποστερεῖν κόπτειν

λέγουσι. πλανωμένην δὲ πάντῃ καὶ ἀποροῦσαν
οὐδένα προσελθεῖν" ἀπροσαύδητον, ἀλλὰ καὶ παι-

δαρίοις συντυχοῦσαν ἐρωτᾶν περὶ τῆς λάρνακος” τὰ
1 ; συνόντας] συνωμότας Meziriacus.
ἐπιρράξαι Wyttenbach : τ ἐπιρρῆξαι.
3 raise ᾽μολάβδου), θερμὸν μόλιβδον Baxter.
καταχεαμένους Bentley : καταχεαμένων.
5 Τανιτικοῦ Xylander: ταναϊτικοῦ.
5 ὀνομάζειν] νομίζειν Kontos.
7 ἐκεῖνο Xylander: ἐκείνου.
8 Χέμμιν Xylander: χέννιν.
5 κείρασθαι van Herwerden: κείρεσθαι.
10 τῇ πόλει] πόλις ᾗ Reiske.
1 προσελθεῖν] παρελθεῖν Meziriacus,

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 356

lay down, and those who were in the plot ran to it and
slammed down the lid, which they fastened by nails
from the outside and also by using molten lead. Then
they carried the chest to the river and sent it on its
way to the sea through the Tanitic Mouth. Where-
fore the Egyptians even to this day name this mouth
the hateful and execrable. Such is the tradition.
They say also that the date on which this deed was
done was the seventeenth day of Athyr,* when the
sun passes through Scorpion, and in the twenty-eighth
year of the reign of Osiris ; but some say that these
are the years of his life and not of his reign.®

14. The first to learn of the deed and to bring to
men’s knowledge an account of what had been done
were the Pans and Satyrs who lived in the region
around Chemmis,° and so, even to this day, the sudden
confusion and consternation of a crowd is called a
panic.? Isis, when the tidings reached her, at once
cut off one of her tresses and put on a garment of
mourning in a place where the city still bears the
name of Kopto.¢ Others think that the name means
deprivation, for they also express “ deprive ” by
means of “ koptein.” f But Isis wandered everywhere
at her wits’ end ; no one whom she approached did
she fail to address, and even when she met some little
children she asked them about the chest. As it

a November 13. Cf. also 366 Ὁ and 367 τ, infra.

è Of. 367 F, infra.

e Cf. Herodotus, ii. 91 and 156, and Diodorus, i. 18. 9.

4 Cf. E. Harrison, Classical Review, vol. xl. pp. 6 ff.

e Cf. Aelian, De Natura Animalium, x. 23.

7 The word kopto, “ strike,” “cut,” is used in the middle
voice in the derived meaning “ mourn ” (i.e. to beat one-
self as a sign of mourning). Occasionally the active voice
also means “ cut off,” and from this use Plutarch derives the
meaning “ deprive.”

357

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

δὲ -.ε Γ A ΄ ` ΄ ὃ > Καὶ A
è τυχεῖν' ἑωρακότα καὶ φράσαι τὸ στόμα δι οὗ το
> A ς ’ A - 3 4 ΄
ἀγγεῖον οἱ φίλοι τοῦ Τυφῶνος εἷς τὴν θάλατταν
ἔωσαν. ἐκ τούτου τὰ παιδάρια μαντικὴν δύναμιν
ἔχειν οἴεσθαι τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, καὶ μάλιστα ταῖς
τούτων ὀττεύεσθαι κληδόσι παιζόντων ἐν ἱεροῖς καὶ
φθεγγομένων ὅ τι ἂν τύχωσι.
> / ` ~ 2 a 2A LA
ἰσθομένην ονέναι
Aio θομένη ; δὲ τῇ ἀδελφῇ, ἐρῶντα συγγεγονένα
δι᾽ ἄγνοιαν ὡς ἑαυτῇ τὸν Όσιρι καὶ τεκμήριον
3 - A
ἰδοῦσαν τὸν µελιλώτινον" στέφανον ὃν ἐκεῖνος παρὰ
a 7 ον A
τῇ Νέφθυϊ' κατέλιπε, τὸ παιδίον ζητεῖν (ἐκθεῖναι' γὰρ
»ΩΛ ~ . ΄ A - e .
εὐθὺς τεκοῦσαν διὰ φόβον τοῦ Τυφῶνος)’ εὑρεθὲν
δὲ χαλεπῶς καὶ μόγις κυνῶν ἐπαγόντων τὴν
Ἶσιν ἐκτραφῆναι καὶ γενέσθαι φύλακα καὶ ὀπαδὸν
αὐτῆς "Ανουβιν προσαγορευθέντα καὶ λεγόμενον
τοὺς θεοὺς φρουρεῖν ὥσπερ οἱ κύνες τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.
> . 4 Γ 4 . - [ή
15. Ἔκ δὲ τούτου πυθέσθαι περὶ τῆς λάρνακος,
ε . κ $ 6 ΓΑ e . ~ 2 3
ὡς πρὸς τὴν Βύβλου" χώραν ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάττης ék-
κυμανθεῖσαν αὐτὴν ἐρείκῃ τινὶ μαλθακῶς ὁ κλύδων
+ ή 2 3 i ΄ ” LA 7
προσέµειξεν' ἡ δ᾽ ἐρείκη κάλλιστον ἔρνος ὀλίγῳ
όνῳ καὶ μέγιστον ἀναδραμοῦσα περιέπτυξε καὶ
r Ἔξ , 3 ps ¢ P 7 >
περιέφυ καὶ ἀπέκρυψεν ἐντὸς ἑαυτῆς' θαυμάσας ὃ
ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ φυτοῦ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ περιτεμὼν τὸν
περιέχοντα τὴν σορὸν οὐχ ὁρωμένην κόλπον" ἔρεισμα
1 δὲ τυχεῖν Baxter: δ᾽ ἔτυχεν.
3 ἰδοῦσαν τὸν μελιλώτινον Xylander: ἰδοῦσα τὸν μὲν λάτινον.
3 τῇ Νέφθυϊ Reiske: τὴν νέφθυν.
4 ἐκθεῖναι Xylander: ἐκεῖνο.
5 δὲ added by Squire.

5 Βύβλου Bentley: Βύβλον.
7 κόλπον] κορμὸν Salmasius,

-----υὙὐύ-υ---------θ---"

a Gf, Dio Chrysostom, Oratio xxxii. p. 364 p (660 Reiske)
and Aelian, De Natura Animalium, xi. 10, ad fin.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 356-357

happened, they had seen it, and they told her the
mouth of the river through which the friends of
Typhon had launched the coffin into the sea. Where-
fore the Egyptians think that little children possess
the power of prophecy, and they try to divine the
future from the portents which they find in children’s
words, especially when children are playing about in
holy places and crying out whatever chances to come
into their minds.

They relate also that Isis, learning that Osiris in his
love had consorted with her sister? through ignorance,
in the belief that she was Isis, and seeing the proof of
this in the garland of melilote which he had left with
Nephthys, sought to find the child; for the mother,
immediately after its birth, had exposed it because of
her fear of Typhon. And when the child had been
found, after great toil and trouble, with the help of
dogs which led Isis to it, it was brought up and became
her guardian and attendant, receiving the name of
Anubis, and it is said to protect the gods just as dogs
protect men.°®

15. Thereafter Isis, as they relate, learned that the
chest had been cast up by the sea near the land of
Byblus4 and that the waves had gently set it down
in the midst of a clump of heather. The heather in a
short time ran up into a very beautiful and massive
stock, and enfolded and embraced the chest with its
growth and concealed it within its trunk. The king
of the country admired the great size of the plant,
and cut off the portion that enfolded the chest (which
was now hidden from sight), and used it as a pillar to

> Nephthys; cf. 366 B, 368 £, and 375 η, infra.
5 Cf. Diodorus, i. 87. 2.
4 Cf. Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, ii. 1. 8.

(357)

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

τῆς στέγης! ὑπέστησε. ταῦτά τε πνεύματί φασι
’ >
δαιμονίῳ φήμης πυθομένην τὴν “low εἰς Ῥύβλον
ἀφικέσθαι, καὶ καθίσασαν ἐπὶ κρήνης ταπεινὴν καὶ
δεδακρυμένην ἄλλῳ μὲν μηδενὶ προσδιαλέγεσθαι,
Lal y lá hi ΄ > 4 `
τῆς δὲ βασιλίδος τὰς θεραπαινίδας ἀσπάζεσθαι καὶ
φιλοφρονεῖσθαι τήν τε κόμην παραπλέκουσαν αὐτῶν
᾽
καὶ τῷ χρωτὶ θαυμαστὴν εὐωδίαν ἐπιπνέουσαν ἀφ
Ly - 5 + λ - /. 4
ἑαυτῆς. ἰδούσης δὲ τῆς βασιλίδος τὰς θεραπαι-
νίδας, ἵμερον ἐμπεσεῖν τῆς ξένης τῶν τε τριχῶν τοῦ
τε χρωτὸς ἀμβροσίαν πνέοντος": οὕτω δὲ µεταπεµ-
φθεῖσαν καὶ γενομένην συνήθη ποιήσασθαι τοῦ παι-
δίου τίτθην. ὄνομα δὲ τῷ μὲν βασιλεῖ Μάλκανδρον
εἶναί φασιν, αὐτῇ" δ᾽ οἱ μὲν ᾿Αστάρτην" οἱ δὲ Σάωσιν
οἱ δὲ Νεμανοῦν, ὅπερ ἂν Ἕλληνες ᾿Αθηναΐδα
προσείποιεν. |
16. Τρέφειν δὲ τὴν Ἶσιν ἀντὶ μαστοῦ τὸν δάκ-
τυλον εἷς τὸ στόμα τοῦ παιδίου διδοῦσαν, νύκτωρ
δὲ περικαίει τὰ θνητὰ τοῦ σώματος αὐτὴν δὲ
γενομένην χελιδόνα τῇ κίονι περιπέτεσθαι καὶ θρη-
- - 1
νεῖν, ἄχρι οὗ τὴν βασίλισσαν παραφυλάξασαν καὶ
ἐκκραγοῦσαν, ws εἶδε περικαιόµενον τὸ βρέφος,
3 2 y > + 5 a ` κ .
ἀφελέσθαι τὴν ἀθανασίαν αὐτοῦ. τὴν δὲ θεὰν
φανερὰν γενομένην αἰτήσασθαι τὴν κίονα τῆς
στέγης: ὑφελοῦσαν δὲ ῥᾷστα περικόψαι τὴν ἐρείκην,
εἶτα ταύτην μὲν ὀθόνῃ περικαλύψασαν καὶ μύρον
τῆς στέγης] τῇ στέγῃ Madvig.
4 3 ¥ .
πνέοντος] ἀποπνέοντος Michael.
αὐτῇ Markland: αὐτὴν.

᾿Αστάρτην Basel ed. of 1542: ἀσπάρτην.

προσείποιεν Markland: προσειπεῖν.
6 τοῦ παιδίου διδοῦσαν] “vel τῷ παιδίῳ vel mberar”

Wyttenbach.
40

am Oo me

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 357

support the roof of his house. These facts, they say,
Isis ascertained by the divine inspiration of Rumour,
and came to Byblus and sat down by a spring, all
dejection and tears*; she exchanged no word with
anybody, save only that she welcomed the queen’s
maidservants and treated them with great amiability,
plaiting their hair for them and imparting to their
persons a wondrous fragrance from her own body.
But when the queen observed her maidservants, a
longing came upon her for the unknown woman and
for such hairdressing and for a body fragrant with
ambrosia. Thus it happened that Isis was sent for and
became so intimate with the queen that the queen
made her the nurse of her baby. They say that
the king’s name was Malcander ; the queen’s name
some say was Astarté, others Saosis, and still others
Nemanis, which the Greeks would call Athenais.

16. They relate that Isis nursed the child by giving
it her finger to suck instead of her breast, and in the
night she would burn away the mortal portions of its
body. She herself would turn into a swallow and
flit about the pillar with a wailing lament, until the
queen who had been watching, when she saw her
babe on fire, gave forth a loud cry and thus deprived
it ofimmortality. Then the goddess disclosed herself
and asked for the pillar which served to support the
roof. She removed it with the greatest ease and cut
away the wood of the heather which surrounded the
chest ; then, when she had wrapped up the wood in
a linen cloth and had poured perfume upon it, she

5 Cf. the similar account of Demeter in the Homeric
Hymn to Demeter (ii.), 98 ff.

? ἐκκραγοῦσαν Bentley; ἐγκραγοῦσαν Stephanus: κεκρα-
γοῦσαν.
41

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(357) καταχεαμένην ἐγχειρίσαι τοῖς βασιλεῦσι, καὶ νῦν ἔτι
σέβεσθαι Βυβλίους τὸ ξύλον ἐν ἱερῷ κείμενον
D Ἴσιδος. τῇ δὲ σορῷ περιπεσεῖν καὶ κωκῦσαι
τηλικοῦτον, ὥστε τῶν παίδων τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν
νεώτερον ἐνθανεῖν, τὸν δὲ πρεσβύτερον pel
ἑαυτῆς ἔχουσαν καὶ τὴν σορὸν εἰς πλοῖον ἐνθεμένην
ἀναχθῆναι. τοῦ δὲ Φαίδρου ποταμοῦ πνεῦμα
τραχύτερον ἐκθρέψαντος ὑπὸ τὴν ἕω, θυμωθεῖσαν
ἀναξηρᾶναι τὸ ῥεῖθρον.

17. Ὅπου δὲ πρῶτον ἐρημίας ἔτυχεν, αὐτὴν καθ’
ἑαυτὴν γενομένην ἀνοῖξαι τὴν λάρνακα, καὶ τῷ
προσώπῳ τὸ πρόσωπον ἐπιθεῖσαν ἀσπάσασθαι καὶ
δακρύευν" τοῦ δὲ παιδίου σιωπῇ προσελθόντος ἐκ
τῶν ὄπισθεν καὶ καταμανθάνοντος αἰσθομένην μετα-

Ε στραφῆναι καὶ δεινὸν ὑπ᾽ ὀργῆς ἐμβλέψαι. τὸ δὲ
παιδίον οὐκ ἀνασχέσθαι τὸ τάρβος, ἀλλ᾽ ἀποθανεῖν.
οἱ δέ φασιν οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ οὗ εἴρηται πλοίου)
ἐκπεσεῖν els τὴν θάλατταν. ἔχει δὲ τιμὰς διὰ τὴν
θεόν" ὃν γὰρ ἄδουσιν Αἰγύπτιοι παρὰ τὰ συμπόσια
Μανέρωτα,᾽ τοῦτον εἶναι. τινὲς δὲ τὸν μὲν παῖδα
καλεῖσθαι Παλαιστινὸν ἢ ἢ Πηλούσιον, καὶ τὴν πόλιν
ἐπώνυμον ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι κτισθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῆς
θεοῦ- τὸν δ᾽ ἀδόμενον Μανέρωτα) πρῶτον εὑρεῖν
μουσικὴν ἱστοροῦσιν, ἔνιοι δέ /ῥασιν ὄνομα μὲν
οὐδενὸς εἶναι, διάλεκτον δὲ πίνουσιν ἀνθρώποις
καὶ θαλιάζουσε πρέπουσαν, “αἴσιμα τὰ τοιαῦτα"

F παρείη”' τοῦτο γὰρ τῷ Μανέρωτιξ φραζόμενον ἆνα-

1 οὗ... πλοίου F.C.B.: ὧς... τρόπον.

2 Perhaps Μανερῶτα and Μανερῶτι are to be preferred to

the mss. accent, but the matter is very uncertain.
τὰ τοιαῦτα] ταῦτα Wyttenbach.

α At the end of the preceding chapter.
42

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 357

entrusted it to the care of the kings; and even to
this day the people of Byblus venerate this wood
which is preserved in the shrine of Isis. Then the
goddess threw herself down upon the coffin with such
a dreadful wailing that the younger of the king’s sons
expired on the spot, The elder son she kept with her,
and, having placed the coffin on board a boat, she
put out from land. Since the Phaedrus river toward
the early morning fostered a rather boisterous wind,
the goddess grew angry and dried up its stream.

17. In the first place where she found seclusion,
when she was quite by herself, they relate that she
opened the chest and laid her face upon the face
within and caressed it and wept. The child came
quietly up behind her and saw what was there, and
when the goddess became aware of his presence, she
turned about and gave him one awful look of anger.
The child could not endure the fright, and died.
Others will not have it so, but assert that he fell over-
board into the sea from the boat that was mentioned
above.* He also is the recipient of honours because
of the goddess; for they say that the Maneros of
whom the Egyptians sing at their convivial gather-
ings is this very child.’ Some say, however, that his
name was Palaestinus or Pelusius, and that the city
founded by the goddess was named, in his honour.
They also recount that this Maneros who is the theme
of their songs was the first to invent music. But
some say that the word is not the name of any person,
but an expression belonging to the vocabulary of
drinking and feasting : “ Good luck be ours in things
like this!”’, and that this is really the idea expressed

5 Cf. Herodotus, ii. 79 ; Pausanias, ix. 29. 3; Athenaeus,
620 a.
43

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

φωνεῖν ἑκάστοτε τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους" ὥσπερ ἀμέλει
καὶ τὸ δεικνύμενον αὐτοῖς εἴδωλον ἀνθρώπου
τεθνηκότος ἐν κιβωτίῳ περιφερόμενον οὐκ ἔστιν
ὑπόμνημα τοῦ περὶ Ὀσίριδος πάθους, ᾗ τινες ὑπο-
λαμβάνουσι, ἀλλ᾽ θεωμένους; παρακαλοῦν αὐτοὺς
χρῆσθαι τοῖς παροῦσι καὶ ἀπολαύειν, ὡς πάντας
αὐτίκα μάλα τοιούτους ἐσομένους, οὗ χάριν ἐπὶ
κῶμον) ἐπεισάγουσι.

18. Τῆς δ᾽ Ἴσιδος πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν Ὥρον è ἐν Βούτῳ
τρεφόμενον πορευθείσης, τὸ δ᾽ ἀγγεῖον ἐκποδὼν
ἀποθεμένης, Τυφῶνα κυνηγετοῦντα νύκτωρ πρὸς

858 τὴν σελήνην ἐντυχεῖν αὐτῷ, καὶ τὸ σῶμα γνωρί-
σαντα διελεῖν εἰς τετταρεσκαίδεκα μέρη καὶ δι-
αρρῖψαι” τὴν. δ᾽ Ἶσιν πυθοµένην ἀναζητεῖν ἐ ἐν βάριδι
παπυρίνῃ τὰ ἕλη διεκπλέουσαν- ὅθεν οὐκ ἀδικεῖσθαι
τοὺς ἐν παπυρίνοις σκάφεσι πλέοντας ὑπὸ τῶν
κροκοδείλων ἢ φοβουμένων ἢ σεβομένων ἰδίᾳ"
τὴν θεόν.

Ἔκ τούτου δὲ καὶ πολλοὺς τάφους Ὀσίριδος ἐν
Αἰγύπτῳ λέγεσθαι διὰ τὸ προστυγχάνουσαν ἑκάστῳ
μέρει ταφὰς ποιεῖν. οἱ è οὔ φασιν, ἀλλ᾽ εἴδωλα
ποιουμένην, διδόναι καθ᾽ ἑκάστην : πόλιν ὡς τὸ σῶμα

B διδοῦσαν ὅπως παρὰ πλείοσιν ἔχῃ τιμάς, κἂν ὁ
Τυφὼν ἐπικρατήσῃ τοῦ Ὥρου, τὸν ἀληθινὸν τάφον

1 θεωμένους F.C.B., cf. 148 A; οἰνωμένους Markland: oio-
μένους.
παρακαλοῦν F.C.B.: .παρακαλεῖν.
5 οὗ χάριν ἐπὶ κῶμον] ἄχαριν ἐπίκωμον Emperius.
τὰ Basel ed. of 1542: τὰ δὲ.
ἰδίᾳ F.C.B.: διὰ.
€ διδόναι] διαδοῦναι Markland.

σι

α Cf. Moralia, 1484; Herodotus, ii. 78; Lucian, De
Tnctu, 21. b Cf. 366 a, infra.

44.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 357-358

by the exclamation “ maneros” whenever the
Egyptians use it. In the same way we may be
sure that the likeness of a corpse which, as it is
exhibited to them, is carried around in a chest, is
not a reminder of what happened to Osiris, as some
assume ; but it is to urge them, as they contemplate
it, to use and to enjoy the present, since all very
soon must be what it is now and this is their purpose
in introducing it into the midst of merry-making.*

18. As they relate, Isis proceeded to her son Horus,
who was being reared in Buto, and bestowed the
chest in a place well out of the way ; but Typhon,
who was hunting by night in the light of the moon,
happened upon it. Recognizing the body he divided
it into fourteen parts ° and scattered them, each in
a different place. Isis learned of this and sought
for them again, sailing through the swamps in a boat
of papyrus. This is the reason why people sailing
in such boats are not harmed by the crocodiles, since
these creatures in their own way show either their
fear or their reverence for the goddess.

The traditional result of Osiris’s dismemberment is
that there are many so-called tombs of Osiris in
Egypt’; for Isis held a funeral for each part when
she had found it. Others deny this and assert that
she caused effigies of him to be made and these she
distributed among the several cities, pretending that
she was giving them his body, in order that he might
receive divine honours in a greater number of
cities, and also that, if Typhon should succeed in
overpowering Horus, he might despair of ever finding

e Cf. 368 a, infra. Diodorus, i. 21, says sixteen parts.
4 Cf. Eusebius, Praepar. Evang. v. p. 198 B.
* Cf. 359 a, 365 a, infra, and Diodorus, i. 21.
45

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(358) δητῶν, πολλῶν λεγομένων καὶ δεικνυμένων ἀπ-

αγορεύσῃ. l

Μόνον. δὲ τῶν μερῶν τοῦ ᾿Ὀσίριδος τὴν Ἶσιν οὐχ
εὑρεῖν τὸ αἰδοῖον’ εὐθὺς γὰρ εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ῥιφῆναι
καὶ γεύσασθαι τόν τε λεπιδωτὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν
φάγρον. καὶ τὸν ὀξύρυγχον, ὅσους' μάλιστα τῶν
ἰχθύων ἀφοσιοῦσθαι” - τὴν & Ἶσυ ἀντ᾽ ἐκείνου
μίμημα ποιησαµένην καθιερῶσαι τὸν φαλλόν, ᾧ
καὶ νῦν ἑορτάζειν τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους.

19. Ἔπειτα τῷ Ὥρῳ τὸν "Όσιρι ἐξ "Αιδου
παραγενόμενον διαπονεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην καὶ ἀσκεῖν.
εἶτα. διερωτῆσαι τί κάλλιστον «ἡγεῖται", τοῦ δὲ |
φήσαντος, '' τῷ πατρὶ καὶ μητρὶ τιμωρεῖν κακῶς

C παϑοῦσιν,᾽ δεύτερον ἐρέσθαι τί χρησιμώτατον"
οἴεται ζῷον εἷς μάχην ἐξιοῦσι τοῦ δ᾽ Ὥρου
““ἵππον”"' εἰπόντος, ἐπιθαυμάσαι καὶ διαπορῆσαι
πῶς οὐ λέοντα μᾶλλον ἀλλ᾽ ἵππον. εἰπεῖν οὖν τὸν
ρον ὡς λέων μὲν ὠφέλιμον ἐπιδεομένῳ βοηθείας,
ἵππος δὲ φεύγοντα διασπάσαι καὶ καταναλῶσαι τὸν
πολέμιον. ἀκούσαντ᾽ οὖν ἡσθῆναι τὸν σιριν,

ws ἑκανῶς παρασκευασαµέγου τοῦ Ὥρου. λέγεται
δ᾽ ὅτι πολλῶν μετατιθεμένων ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸν *Opov
καὶ ἡ παλλακὴ τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἀφίκετο Θούηρις. ὄφις

D δέ τις ἐπιδιώκων αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸν "Ὥρον
κατεκόπη, καὶ νῦν διὰ τοῦτο σχοινίον τι προβάλ-
λοντες εἰς μέσον κατακόπτουσι. -

τ ὅσους F.C.B. (or οὓς ὡς Meziriacus): ὡς οὓς.
* ἀφοσιοῦσθαι] ἀφοσιοῦνται Reiske.

5 χρησιμώτατον Emperius: χρησιμώτερον.
4 ἵππον] λύκον Benseler.

a Cf. Diodorus, i. 21. 5 Of. 365 c, infra.
46

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 358

the true tomb when so many were pointed out to’
him, all of them called the tomb of Osiris.

Of the parts of Osiris’s body the only one which Isis
did not find was the male member,? for the reason
that this had been atonce tossed into the river, and the
lepidotus, the sea-bream, and the pike had fed upon
it¢; and it is from these very fishes the Egyptians
are most scrupulous in abstaining. But Isis made a
replica of the member to take its place, and con-
secrated the phallus% in honour of which the Egyptians
even at the present day celebrate a festival.

‘19, Later, as they relate, Osiris came. to Horus
from the other world and exercised and trained him
for the battle. After a time Osiris asked Horus
what he held to be the most noble. of all ‘things.
When Horus replied, “ To avenge one’s father and
mother for evil done to them,” Osiris then asked him
what animal he considered the most useful for them
who go forth to battle; and when Horus said, “ A
horse,” Osiris was surprised and raised the question
why it was that he had not rather said a lion than a
horse. Horus answered that a lion was a useful thing
for a man in need of assistance, but that a horse
served best for cutting off the flight of an enemy and
annihilating him. When Osiris heard this he was
much pleased, since he felt that Horus had now an
adequate preparation. It is said that, as many were
continually transferring their allegiance to Horus,
Typhon’s concubine, Thueris, also came over to him 5
and a serpent which pursued her was cut to pieces
by Horus’s men, and now, inmemory of this, the people
throw down a rope in their midst and chop it up.

e Cf. Strabo, xvii. 1. 40 (p. 812).
4 Cf. Diodorus, i. 99. 6.

ΑΠ

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(358) Tiv μὲν οὖν μάχην ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας γενέσθαι

καὶ κρατῆσαι τὸν ρον: τὸν Τυφῶνα δὲ τὴν Ἶσιν

ia ~ 3 > - > ` .

δεδεμένον παραλαβοῦσαν οὐκ ἀνελεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ

λῦσαι καὶ μεθεῖναι" τὸν δ᾽ Ὥρον οὗ μετρίως ἐν"

- > 3 > ip - . . ~

εγκεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιβαλόντα τῇ μητρὶ τὰς χεῖρας

ἀποσπάσαι τῆς κεφαλῆς τὸ βασίλειον: Ἑρμῆν δὲ
περιθεῖναι βούκρανον αὐτῇ κράνος.

Τοῦ δὲ Τυφῶνος δίκην τῷ Ὥρῳ νοθείας λαχόντος,
βοηθήσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ, καὶ τὸν Ὥρον ὑπὸ
τῶν θεῶν γνήσιον κριθῆναι, τὸν δὲ Τυφῶνα δυσὶν

E ἄλλαις μάχαις καταπολεμηθῆναι. τὴν Ò Ἶσιν ἐξ
᾿Ὀσιριδος μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν συγγενομένου τεκεῖν
ἠλιτόμηνον καὶ ἀσθενῆ τοῖς κάτωθεν γυίοις τὸν
“Αρποκράτην.

20. Ταῦτα σχεδόν ἐστι τοῦ μύθου τὰ κεφάλαια
τῶν δυσφημοτάτων ἐξαιρεθέντων, οἷόν ἐστι τὸ περὶ
τὸν Ὥρου διαμελισμὸν καὶ τὸν Ἴσιδος ἀποκεφαλι-
σμόν. ὅτι μὲν οὖν, εἰ ταῦτα περὶ τῆς μακαρίας καὶ
ἀφθάρτου φύσεως, καθ᾽ ἣν μάλιστα νοεῖται τὸ
θεῖον, ὡς ἀληθῶς πραχθέντα καὶ συμπεσόντα δοξά-
ζουσι καὶ λέγουσιν,

5 Ζ a ` Ζ 8 2 3
ἀποπτύσαι δεῖ καὶ καθήρασθαι στόμα
κατ᾽ Αἰσχύλον, οὐδὲν δεῖ λέγειν πρὸς σέ. καὶ γὰρ

F αὐτὴ δυσκολαίνεις τοῖς οὕτω παρανόμους καὶ βαρ-
βάρους δόξας περὶ θεῶν ἔχουσιν. ὅτι δ᾽ οὐκ ἔοικε
ταῦτα κομιδῇ μυθεύμασιν ἀραιοῖς καὶ διακένοις
πλάσμασι», οἷα ποιηταὶ καὶ λογογράφοι καθάπερ οἱ

1 δὲ and καὶ] Reiske would omit.
2 στόμα Reiske: τὸ στόμα.

a Of. 377 B, infra.

> Cf Moralia, 1026c, and De Anima, i 6 (in
Bernardakis’s ed. vol. vii. p. 7).

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 358

Now the battle, as they relate, lasted many days
and Horus prevailed. Isis, however, to whom Typhon
was delivered in chains, did not cause him to be put
to death, but released him and let him go. Horus
could not endure this with equanimity, but laid hands
upon his mother and wrested the royal diadem from
her head ; but Hermes put upon her a helmet like
unto the head of a cow.

Typhon formally accused Horus of being an illegi-
timate child, but with the help of Hermes to plead
his cause it was decided by the gods that he also was
legitimate. Typhon was then overcome in two other
battles. Osiris consorted with Isis after his death,
and she became the mother of Harpocrates, untimely
born and weak in his lower limbs.¢

20. These are nearly all the important points of the
legend, with the omission of the most infamous of
the tales, such as that about the dismemberment of
Horus > and the decapitation of Isis. There is one
thing that I have no need to mention to you : if they
hold such opinions and relate such tales about the
nature of the blessed and imperishable (in accordance
with which our concept of the divine must be framed)
as if such deeds and occurrences actually took place,
then

Much need there is to spit and cleanse the mouth,

as Aeschylus ° has it. But the fact is that you your-
self detest those persons who hold such abnormal
and outlandish opinions about the gods. That these
accounts do not, in the least, resemble the sort of
loose fictions and frivolous fabrications which poets
and writers of prose evolve from themselves, after

* Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag., Aeschylus, πο. 354.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

ἀράχναι γεννῶντες ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτῶν ἀπαρχὰς ἀνυπο-
θέτους ὑφαίνουσι καὶ ἀποτείνουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἔχει τινὰς
ἀποριῶν᾽ καὶ παθῶν διηγήσεις, συνήσεις αὐτή; καὶ
καθάπερ of μαθηματικοὶ τὴν ἶριν ἔμφασιν εἶναι τοῦ
ἡλίου λέγουσι ποικιλλοµένην τῇ πρὸς τὸ νέφος ἆνα-

359 χωρήσει) τῆς ὄψεως, οὕτως ὁ μῦθος ἐνταῦθα λόγου
/ 3

3 ,
τινὸς ἔμφασίς εστιν ἀνακλῶντος ἐπ ἄλλα τὴν διά-

e e ~ σ / ` +
νοιαν, ὡς ὑποδηλοῦσιν αἵ τε θυσίαι τὸ πένθιμον
ἔχουσαι καὶ σκυθρωπὸν ἐμφαινόμενον, αἵ τε τῶν
ναῶν διαθέσεις πῇ μὲν ἀνειμένων eis πτερὰ καὶ
δρόμους ὑπαιθρίους καὶ καθαρούς, πῇ δὲ κρυπτὰ
καὶ σκότια κατὰ γῆς ἐχόντων στολιστήρια οἰκιδίοις"
ἐοικότα καὶ σηκοῖς' οὐχ ἥκιστα δ᾽ ἡ’ τῶν ᾿Οσιρείων
δόξα, πολλαχοῦ κεῖσθαι λεγομένου τοῦ σώματος"

is λ / 6 3 z 6 λέ λέ
τήν τε γὰρ Διοχίτην᾽ ὀνομάζεσθαι πολίχνην Acyou-

ε 2 ` > . ” 34 >? 7

σιν, ὡς μόνην τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἔχουσαν, ἐν T Αβύδῳ
τοὺς εὐδαίμονας τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ δυνατοὺς

/ F LA e ΄
μάλιστα θάπτεσθαι, φιλοτιμουμένους ὁμοτάφους
5 ~ ΄ 3 + > 4 / ’
εἶναι τοῦ σώματος Ὀσίριδος. ἐν δὲ Μέμφει τρέ-

. Ων my 5 ~ 3 $ -
φεσθαι τὸν “Anw, εἴδωλον ὄντα τῆς ἐκείνου ψυχῆς,

- A ε

ὅπου καὶ τὸ σῶμα κεῖσθαι: καὶ τὴν μὲν πόλιν οἱ
A oe 3 - e z e 3 997 7 ΄

μὲν ὅρμον ἀγαθῶν ἑρμηνεύουσιν, οἱ δ᾽ ἰδίως τάφον

1. ἀποριῶν Sieveking and F.C.B.: ἀπορίας.

2 συνήσεις αὐτή (assuming haplography) or εἴσῃ F.C.B. ;
οἶσθ' αὐτή Bernardakis; γινώσκεις Sieveking: αὐτῇ.

3 ἀναχωρήσει] ἀνακλάσει Reiske; ἀναχρώσει Wyttenbach.

4 otadios F.C.B.; θηκαίοις Bouhier: Θηβαίοις.

5 ἡ] ἡ περὶ 2 E. Capps.

6 Λιοχίτην Holwerda from Steph. Byzantinus: ἐχειτῖνον.

7 ἰδίως Wyttenbach: ὡς,

α Of. Strabo, xvii. 1. 28 (p. 804).
5 Cf. 358 a, supra, and 365 a, infra.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 358-359

the manner of spiders, interweaving and extend-
ing their unestablished first thoughts, but that
these contain narrations of certain puzzling events
and experiences, you will of yourself understand. Just
as the rainbow, according to the account of the
mathematicians, is a reflection of the sun, and owes its
many hues to the withdrawal of our gaze from the
sun and our fixing it on the cloud, so the somewhat
fanciful accounts here set down are but reflections of
some true tale which turns back our thoughts to
other matters ; their sacrifices plainly suggest this,
in that they have mourning and melancholy reflected
in them; and so also does the structure of their
temples, which in one portion are expanded into
wings and into uncovered and unobstructed corridors,
and in another portion have secret vesting-rooms in
the darkness under ground, like cells or chapels ; and
not the least important suggestion is the opinion held
regarding the shrines of Osiris, whose body is said to
have been laid in many different places.? For they
say that Diochites ὁ is the name given to a small town,
on the ground that it alone contains the true tomb ;
and that the prosperous and influential men among
the Egyptians are mostly buried in Abydos, since iù
is the object of their ambition to be buried in the
same ground with the body of Osiris. In Memphis,
however, they say, the Apis is kept, being the image
of the soul of Osiris,? whose body also lies there. The
name of this city some interpret as “the haven of
the good ” and others as meaning properly the “ tomb
5 The introduction of Diochites here is based upon an
emendation of a reading found in one ms. only. The
emendation is drawn from Stephanus Byzantinus, a late

writer on geographical topics.

a Cf. 362 ο and 368 c, infra.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(359) Ὀσίριδος. τὴν δὲ πρὸς Φίλαις' νησῖδ᾽ ἁγνὴν" ἄλλως
μὲν ἄβατον ἅπασι καὶ ἀπροσπέλαστον εἶναι καὶ
μηδ᾽ ὄρνιθας ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν καταίρευ᾽ μηδ᾽ ἰχθῦς
προσπελάζειν, ἑνὶ δὲ καιρῷ τοὺς ἱερεῖς διαβαί-
νοντας ἐναγίζειν καὶ καταστέφειν τὸ σῆμα µηδικῆς'
φυτῷ περισκιαζόμενον, ὑπεραίροντι πάσης ἐλαίας

-. μέγεθος.

C 21. Εὔδοξος δέ, πολλῶν τάφων ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ
λεγομένων, ἐν Βουσίριδι τὸ σῶμα κεῖσθαι: καὶ γὰρ
πατρίδα ταύτην γεγονέναι τοῦ ᾿Οσίριδος: οὐκέτι
μέντοι λόγου δεῖσθαι τὴν Ταφόσιρω»: αὐτὸ γὰρ
φράζειν τοὔνομα ταφὴν ᾿Ὀσίριδος. ἐῶ᾽ δὲ τομὴν
ξύλου καὶ σχίσιν λίνου καὶ χοὰς χεομένας διὰ τὸ
πολλὰ τῶν μυστικῶν ἀναμεμεῖχθαι τούτοις. οὐ
μόνον δὲ τούτων" οἱ ἱερεῖς λέγουσυ», ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν
ἄλλων θεῶν, ὅσοι μὴ ἀγέννητοι μηδ᾽ ἄφθαρτοι, τὰ
μὲν σώματα παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς κεῖσθαι καμόντα καὶ θερα-

D πεύεσθαι, τὰς δὲ ψυχὰς ἐν οὐρανῷ λάμπειν ἄστρα,
καὶ καλεῖσθαι κύνα μὲν τὴν Ἴσιδος ὑφ᾽ Ἑλλήνων,
ὑπ᾽ Αἰγυπτίων δὲ LdOw, Ὠρίωνα δὲ τὴν Ὥρου,᾽
τὴν δὲ Τυφῶνος ἄρκτον. εἰς δὲ τὰς ταφὰς τῶν
τιμωμένων ζῴων τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους συντεταγμένα

1 Midas Squire: πύλας or πύλαις.

2 γῃσῖδ᾽ ἁγνὴν (dubiously) F.C.B.: νιστιτάνην.

3 καταίρειν Xylander: καρτερεῖν.

« μηδικῆς F.C.B., assuming it to be a variant for περσέας:
μηδ᾽ ἴθης or μηθίδης.

ἐῶ Wyttenbach: αἰνῶ.

6 τούτων] τούτου Baxter.
7 τὴν Ὥρου Xylander : τὸν ὥρον.
8 ταφὰς Salmasius: γραφὰς.

a Cf. Diodorus, 1. 22, and Strabo, xvii. p. 803, which
52

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 359

of Osiris.” They also say that the sacred island by
Philae 4 at all other times is untrodden by man and
quite unapproachable, and even birds do not alight
on it nor fishes approach it; yet, at one special time,
the priests cross over to it, and perform the sacrificial
rites for the dead, and lay wreaths upon the tomb,
which lies in the encompassing shade of a persea-?
tree, which surpasses in height any olive.

21. Eudoxus says that, while many tombs of Osiris
are spoken of in Egypt, his body lies in Busiris ; for
this was the place of his birth; moreover, Taphosiris ¢
requires no comment, for the name itself means “ the
tomb of Osiris.” I pass over the cutting of wood,‘ the
rending of linen, and the libations that are offered,
for the reason that many of their secret rites are
involved therein. In regard not only to these gods,
but in regard to the other gods, save only those
whose existence had no beginning and shall have no
end, the priests say that their bodies, after they have
done with their labours, have been placed in the
keeping of the priests and are cherished there, but
that their souls shine as the stars in the firmament,
and the soul of Isis is called by the Greeks the Dog-
star, but by the Egyptians Sothis, and the soul of
Horus is called Orion, and the soul of Typhon the
Bear. Also they say that all the other Egyptians pay
the agreed assessment for the entombment of the

seem to support the emendation “ Philae.” Others think
that the gates (the ms. reading) of Memphis are meant.

5 The persea-tree was sacred to Osiris.

5 Cf. Strabo, xvii. 1. 14 (pp. 799 and 800). Tradition
varies between Taphosiris and Taposiris, and there may be
no “ tomb ” in the word at all.

4 Cf. 368 a, infra.

e Cf. Moralia, 974 F.

(359)

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

τελεῖν, μόνους δὲ μὴ διδόναι τοὺς Θηβαΐδα kar-
οικοῦντας, ὡς θνητὸν θεὸν οὐδένα νομίζοντας,
ἀλλ᾽ ὃν καλοῦσιν αὐτοὶ Ινήφ, ἀγέννητον ὄντα καὶ
ἀθάνατον.

22. Πολλῶν δὲ τοιούτων λεγομένων καὶ δεικνυ-
μένων, οἱ μὲν οἰόμενοι βασιλέων ταῦτα καὶ τυράν-
νων, δι ἀρετὴν ὑπερφέρουσαν ἢ δύναμιν ἀξίωμα τῆς
δόξης! θεότητος ἐπιγραψαμένων εἶτα χρησαμένων
τύχαις, ἔργα καὶ πάθη δεινὰ καὶ μεγάλα διαμνημο-
νεύεσθαι, ῥάστῃ μὲν ἀποδράσει τοῦ λόγου χρῶνται
καὶ τὸ δύσφημον οὐ φαύλως ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν én’
ἀνθρώπους μεταφέρουσι, καὶ ταύτας᾽ ἔχουσιν ἀπὸ
τῶν ἱστορουμένων βοηθείας. ἱστοροῦσι γὰρ Αἰγύ-
πτιοι τὸν μὲν Ἑρμῆν τῷ σώματι γενέσθαι γαλε-
άγκωνα, τὸν δὲ Τυφῶνα τῇ χρόᾳ πυρρόν, λευκὸν
δὲ τὸν Ὧρον καὶ μελάγχρουν τὸν "Ὄσιριν, ὡς τῇ
φύσει γεγονότας ἀνθρώπους. ἔτι δὲ καὶ στρατηγὸν
ὀνομάζουσιν "Όσιριν, καὶ κυβερνήτην Κάνωβον,
οὗ φασιν ἐπώνυμον γεγονέναι τὸν ἀστέρα: καὶ τὸ
πλοῖον, ὃ καλοῦσιν Ἕλληνες ᾿Αργώ, τῆς ᾿Ὀσίριδος
νεὼς εἴδωλον ἐπὶ τιμῇ κατηστερισμένον, οὐ μακρὰν
φέρεσθαι τοῦ ᾿Ὠρίωνος καὶ τοῦ Κυνός, ὧν τὸν μὲν
Ὥρου τὸν) δ᾽ Ἴσιδος ἱερὸν Αἰγύπτιοι νομίζουσιν.

23. Ὀκνῶ δέ, μὴ τοῦτ᾽ ἢ τὰ ἀκίνητα κινεῖν καὶ
' πολεμεῖν ” οὐ '' τῷ πολλῷ χρόνῳ ” (κατὰ Σιµω-
1 σῆς δόξης F.C.B.: τῇ δόξη.

3 ταύτας] τοιαύτας Michael.
8 τὸν... τὸν Reiske (confirmed by one Ms.): TO... τὸ.

ο ικα ο Sa Re RL a re
a Cf, Diodorus, i. 84, ad fin., for the great expense often
involved. :

> That is, to die, and thus to lose their claim to divinity ;
ef. 360 8, infra. This is common Euhemeristic doctrine.

5 Cf. 363 a and 364 B, infra.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 359

animals held in honour,’ but that the inhabitants of
the Theban territory only do not contribute because
they believe in no mortal god, but only in the god
whom they call Kneph, whose existence had no
beginning and shall have no end.

22. Many things like these are narrated and
pointed out, and if there be some who think that
in these are commemorated the dire and momentous
acts and experiences of kings and despots who, by
reason of their pre-eminent virtue or might, laid claim
to the glory of being styled gods, and later had to
submit to the vagaries of fortune,® then these persons
employ the easiest means of escape from the narrative,
and not ineptly do they transfer the disrepute from
the gods to men; and in this they have the support of
the common traditions. The Egyptians, in fact, have
a tradition that Hermes had thin arms and big elbows,
that Typhon was red in complexion, Horus white, and
Osiris dark,¢ as if they had been in their nature but
mortal men. Moreover, they give to Osiris the title
of general, and the title of pilot to Canopus, from
whom they say that the star derives its name; also
that the vessel which the Greeks call Argo, in form
like the ship of Osiris, has been set among the con-
stellations in his honour, and its course lies not far
from that of Orion and the Dog-star ; of these the
Egyptians believe that one is sacred to Horus and
the other to Isis.

23. I hesitate, lest this be the moving of things
immovable 4 and not only “ warring against the long
years of time,” as Simonides ¢ has it, but warring, too,

4 Proverbial : cf. e.g. Plato, Laws, 684 p.
* Cf. Bergk, Poet. Την. Graec. iii, Simonides, πο. 193,
and Edmonds, Lyra Graeca, ii. p. 340 in L.C.L.
55

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

νίδην) μόνον, “ πολλοῖς δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἔθνεσι P” kal
γένεσι κατόχοις ὑπὸ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους
ὁσιότητος, οὐδὲν ἀπολιπόνταςὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ pera-
φέρειν ἐπὶ γῆν ὀνόματα τηλικαῦτα, καὶ τιμὴν καὶ
360 πίστιν ὀλίγου δεῖν ἅπασιν ἐκ πρώτης γενέσεως
3 - > + . > T ΄ A
ἐνδεδυκυῖαν ἐξιστάναι καὶ ἀναλύειν, μεγάλας μὲν
a nf ΠῚ / 2 / vo
τῷ ἀθέῳ λεῷ" κλισιάδας ἀνοίγοντας καὶ ἐξανθρω-
πίζοντας" τὰ θεῖα, λαμπρὰν δὲ τοῖς Εὐημέρου τοῦ
Μεσσηνίου φενακισμοῖς παρρησίαν διδόντας, ὃς
αὐτὸς ἀντίγραφα συνθεὶς ἀπίστου καὶ ἀνυπάρκτου
μυθολογίας πᾶσαν ἀθεότητα κατασκεδάννυσι τῆς
οἰκουμένης, τοὺς νομιζομένους θεοὺς πάντας ὁμαλῶς
διαγράφων εἰς ὀνόματα” στρατηγῶν καὶ ναυάρχων
καὶ βασιλέων ὡς δὴ πάλαι γεγονότων, ἐν δὲ
B Πάγχοντι γράμμασι χρυσοῖς ἀναγεγραμμένων;᾽
οἷς οὔτε βάρβαρος οὐδεὶς οὔθ᾽ Ἕλλην, ἀλλὰ μόνος
Εὐήμερος, ὡς ἔοικε, πλεύσας εἰς τοὺς μηδαμόθι γῆς
d » 5 ΄ . +
γεγονότας μηδ᾽ ὄντας Παγχώους καὶ Τριφύλλους
ἐνετετυχήκει.
24. Καίτοι μεγάλαι μὲν ὑμνοῦνται πράξεις ἐν
A f x a / δ AS D / 3
σσυρίοις Σεμιράμιος, μεγάλαι δε᾽Σεσώστριος ἐν
Αἰγύπτῳ: Φρύγες δὲ μέχρι νῦν τὰ λαμπρὰ καὶ θαυ-
μαστὰ τῶν ἔργων Μανικὰ καλοῦσι διὰ τὸ Μάνην"
. - ΄ ’ 3 A 34 . A
τινὰ τῶν πάλαι βασιλέων ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα καὶ δυνατὸν
γενέσθαι παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς, ὃν ἔνιοι Μάσδην καλοῦσι"
Κῦρος δὲ Πέρσας Μακεδόνας δ᾽ ᾿Αλέξανδρος ὀλίγου
1 ἀπολιπόντας] ἀπολείποντας Sieveking.
3 ἐξ] τοῦ ἐξ Baxter.
5 λεῷ] Λέοντι Poblenz, omitting καὶ below.
4 ἐξανθρωπίζοντας Markland: ἐξανθρωπίξοντι or ἐξανθρωπί-
ζοντες.
5 ὀνόματα Baxter: ὄνομα.
6 ἀναγεγραμμένων Salmasius: ἀναγεγραμμένοις.
56

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 359-360

against “ many a nation and race of men” who are
possessed by a feeling of piety towards these gods,
and thus we should not stop short of transplanting
such names from the heavens to the earth, and
eliminating and dissipating the reverence and faith
implanted in nearly all mankind at birth, opening wide
the great doors to the godless throng, degrading
things divine to the human level, and giving a splendid
licence to the deceitful utterances of Euhemerus of
Messené, who of himself drew up copies of an incredible
and non-existent mythology,“ and spread atheism over
the whole inhabited earth by obliterating the gods of
our belief and converting them all alike into names of
generals, admirals, and kings, who, forsooth, lived in
very ancient times and are recorded in inscriptions
written in golden letters at Panchon, which no
foreigner and no Greek had ever happened to meet
with, save only Euhemerus. He, it seems, made a
voyage to the Panchoans and Triphyllians, who never
existed anywhere on earth and do not exist !

24, However, mighty deeds of Semiramis are cele-
brated among the Assyrians, and mighty deeds of
Sesostris in Egypt, and the Phrygians, even to this
day, call brilliant and marvellous exploits “ manic ”
because Manes,? one of their very early kings, proved
himself a good man and exercised a vast influence
among them. Some give his name as Masdes.
Cyrus led the Persians, and Alexander the Mace-

* Doubtless ἡ iepà ἀναγραφή (sacra scriptio) ; see Diodorus,
v. 41-46, and vi. 1.

> Cf. Herodotus, i. 94, iv. 45, and W. M. Ramsay,
Mitteilungen des deutsch. arch. Institutes in Athen, viii. 71.

T ἐνετετυχήκει] ἐντετύχηκε Reiske. 8 δὲ Bases: δ᾽ αἱ.
° Μάνην Salmasius: μάνιν.
57

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(360) δεῖν ἐπὶ πέρας τῆς γῆς κρατοῦντας προήγαγον" ἀλλ᾽
C ὄνομα καὶ μνήμην βασιλέων ἀγαθῶν ἔχουσι». “εἰ
δέ τινες ἐξαρθέντες' ὑπὸ μεγαλαυχίας, ὥς φησιν ὁ
Πλάτων, “ ἅμα νεότητι καὶ ἀνοίᾳ: φλεγόμενοι τὴν
ψυχὴν μεθ᾽ ὕβρεως ” ἐδέξαντο θεῶν ἐπωνυμίας καὶ
ναῶν ἱδρύσεις, βραχὺν ἤνθησεν ἡ δόξα χρόνον, εἶτα
κενότητα καὶ ἀλαζονείαν μετ᾽ ἀσεβείας καὶ παρα-
νομίας προσοφλόντες

> 4 - ’ 3 ΄ > +
ὠκύμοροι καπνοῖο δίκην ἀρθέντες ἀπέπταν,

καὶ νῦν ὥσπερ ἀγώγιμοι δραπέται τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ
~ ~ 2 , 3 ` 3 λ᾽ a ` 2
τῶν βωμῶν ἀποσπασθέντες οὐδὲν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τὰ μνή-
para καὶ τοὺς τάφους ἔχουσιν. ὅθεν ᾿Αντίγονος
Dé γέρων, Ἑρμοδότου τινὸς ἐν ποιήμασιν αὐτὸν
4t PAL - 4 0 ? »» 5 4 ae 3
ἡλίου παῖδα καὶ Bedv” ἀναγορεύοντος, οὐ
aft » F ace Ζ [4 1 ο
τοιαῦτά por,” εἶπεν, ' ὁ λασανοφόρος σύνοιδεν.’ εὖ
. . z e + 3 - κ ’ ‘
δὲ καὶ Λύσιππος ὁ πλάστης ᾿Απελλῆν ἐμέμψατο τὸν
4 e A > 7 x >t
ζωγράφον, ὅτι τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρου γράφων εἰκόνα
3
κεραυνὸν ἐνεχείρισεν, αὐτὸς δὲ λόγχην, ἧς τὴν
δόξαν οὐδὲ εἷς ἀφαιρήσεται χρόνος ἀληθινὴν καὶ
ἰδίαν οὖσαν.
25. Βέλτιον οὖν οἱ τὰ περὶ τὸν Τυφῶνα καὶ
"O . 51 ε 7 ia θ ~ 0 +
opw καὶ “Ilow ἱστορούμενα μήτε θεῶν παθη-
2.3 4 3 ` 9 +
ατα μήτ᾽ ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ δαιμόνων μεγάλων εἶναι
, P V? / ` p , `
E νομίζοντες, οὔς᾽ καὶ Πλάτων καὶ Πυθαγόρας καὶ
1 ἐξαρθέντες Xylander: ἐξαιρεθέντες.
2 ἀνοίᾳ Plato: ἀγνοίᾳ.
5 οὓς Xylander from Euseb. Praep. Ευ. v. 5: ὡς.

a Adapted from Plato, Laws, 116 a.

ὃ From Empedocles: cf. H. Diels, Poetarum Philoso-
phorum Fragmenta, p. 106, Empedocles, no. 2. 4.

ο Plutarch tells the same story with slight variations in
Moralia, 182 ο

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 360

donians, in victory after victory, almost to the ends of
the earth ; yet these have only the name and fame of
noble kings. “But if some, elated by a great self-
conceit,” as Plato% says, “ with souls enkindled with
the fire of youth and folly accompanied by arrogance,”
have assumed to be called gods and to have temples
dedicated in their honour, yet has their repute
flourished but a brief time, and then, convicted of
vain-glory and imposture,

Swift in their fate, like to smoke in the air, rising upward

they flitted,®

and now, like fugitive slaves without claim to protec-
tion, they have been dragged from their shrines and
altars, and have nothing left to them save only
their monuments and their tombs. Hence the elder
Antigonus, when a certain Hermodotus in a poem pro-
claimed him to be “the Offspring of the Sun and a
god,” said, “ the slave who attends to my chamber-
pot is not conscious of any such thing!” © Moreover,
Lysippus the sculptor was quite right in his dis-
approval of the painter Apelles, because Apelles in
his portrait of Alexander had represented him with
a thunderbolt in his hand, whereas he himself had
represented Alexander holding a spear, the glory of
which no length of years could ever dim, since it was
truthful and was his by right.

25.4 Better, therefore, is the judgement of those
who hold that the stories about Typhon, Osiris, and
Isis, are records of experiences of neither gods nor
men, but of demigods, whom Plato 5 and Pythagoras’

4 In connexion with chapters 25 and 26 one may well
compare 418 p-419 a and 421 ο, infra, and Eusebius,
Praepar. Evang. iv. 21-y. 5. e Cf. 361 ο, infra.

7 Cf, Diogenes Laertius, viii. 32,

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

- z . 2 ¢ os a f
Ἐενοκράτης καὶ Χρύσιππος, ἑπόμενοι τοῖς πάλαι θεο-
λόγοις, ἐρρωμενεστέρους μὲν ἀνθρώπων γεγονέναι
λέγουσι καὶ πολὺ' τῇ δυνάμει τὴν φύσιν ὑπερ-
φέροντας ἡμῶν, τὸ δὲ θεῖον οὐκ ἀμιγὲς οὐδ᾽ ἄκρατον
” 9 . ` a , 2 ` / ?
ἔχοντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ψυχῆς φύσει" καὶ σώματος at-
σθήσειδ συνειληχός, ἡδονὴν δεχόμενον" καὶ πόνον, καὶ
ὅσα ταύταις ἐγγενόμενα ταῖς μεταβολαῖς πάθη τοὺς
- + >
μὲν μᾶλλον τοὺς δ᾽ ἧττον ἐπιταράττει. γίγνονται
γὰρ, ὡς ἐν ἀνθρώποις, κἀν" δαίμοσω; ἀρετῆς δια-
~ . ’ A ` x κ $
F φοραὶ καὶ κακίας. τὰ γὰρ Γιγαντικὰ καὶ Τιτανικὰ
3.9 3 / ` £ 6 ` fad
παρ᾽ Ἕλλησιν ἀδόμενα καὶ Κρόνου" τινὲς ἄθεσμοι
πράξεις καὶ Πύθωνος ἀντιτάξεις πρὸς ᾿Απόλλωνα,
1 z ` 7 , σολ
φυγαί τε Διονύσου καὶ πλάναι Δήμητρος οὐδὲν
3 ’ - 3 ~ . ~ Ed
ἀπολείπουσι τῶν ᾿Οσιριακῶν καὶ Τυφωνικῶν ἄλλων
θ᾽ ὧν πᾶσα" ἔξεστι ἀνέδην μυθολογουμένων
ἀκούειν ὅσα τε μυστικοῖς ἱεροῖς περικαλυπτόμενα”
καὶ τελεταῖς ἄρρητα διασῴζεται καὶ ἀθέατα πρὸς
τοὺς πολλούς, ὅμοιον ἔχει λόγον.
96. ᾿Ακούομεν δὲ καὶ “Ομήρου τοὺς μὲν ἀγαθοὺς
7 10 «έ re ee - 11 `
διαφόρως θεοειδέας ” ἑκάστοτε καλοῦντος καὶ
ce 2 ’ 39) a - wv / > ww ” -
861 “ ἀντιθέους ” καὶ “ θεῶν ἄπο μήδε᾽ ἔχοντας, τῷ
1 πολὺ Eusebius: πολλῇ.
2 φύσει . . . αἰσθήσει] φύσεως . . . αἰσθήσεως Baxter.
3

αἰσθήσει Xylander from Eusebius: αἰσθήσει ἐν.
4 δεχόμενον (or δεχομένῃ) Eusebius: δεχομένην,
5 κἀν Hatzidakis: καὶ.
5 Κρόνου] πολλαὶ Eusebius.
Ἰ φυγαί Xylander from Eusebius ; ρος Pips φθόγγοι.

8 πᾶσιν] παρὰ πᾶσιν Eusebius.

8 περικαλυπτόμενα] παρακαλυπτόμενα Eusebius.
10 διαφόρως] διαφερόντως Hatzidakis.
1 καλοῦντος added by Reiske.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 360-361

and Xenocrates* and Chrysippus,’ following the lead of
early writers on sacred subjects, allege to have been
stronger than men and, in their might, greatly sur-
passing our nature, yet not possessing the divine
quality unmixed and uncontaminated, but with a
share also in the nature of the soul and in the percep-
tive faculties of the body, and with a susceptibility to
pleasure and pain and to whatsoever other experience
is incident to these mutations, and is the source of
much disquiet in some and of less in others. For in
demigods, as in men, there are divers degrees of
virtue and of vice. The exploits of the Giants and
Titans celebrated among the Greeks, the lawless
deeds of a Cronus,’ the stubborn resistance of Python
against Apollo, the flights of Dionysus,? and the
wanderings of Demeter, do not fall at all short of
the exploits of Osiris and Typhon and other exploits
which anyone may hear freely repeated in traditional
story. So, too, all the things which are kept always
away from the ears and eyes of the multitude by
being concealed behind mystic rites and ceremonies
have a similar explanation.

26. As we read Homer, we notice that in many
different places he distinctively calls the good “ god-
like” ¢ and “ peers of the gods ”* and “having prudence

a Cf. Stobaeus, Eclogae, i. 9. 29.

> Cf. Moralia, 277 a, 419 a, and 1051 c-D; and von
Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, ii. 1103(p. 890).

5 The vengeance which he wreaked on his father Uranus,

* Homer, Jl. vi. 135 ff. If φθόροι is read (* destructions
wrought by Dionysus”) there would be also a reference to
the death of Pentheus as portrayed in the Bacchae of Euri-
pides. Cf. also Moralia, 996 ο.

e The word is found forty-four times in Homer.

7 Homer employs this expression sixty-two times.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(361) δ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν δαιμόνων προσρήματι χρωμένου κοινῶς

ἐπί τε χρηστῶν καὶ φαύλων,

δαιμόνιε σχεδὸν ἐλθέ: τίη δειδίσσεαι οὕτως

᾿Αργείους;

καὶ πάλιν
ἀλλ᾽ ὅτε δὴ τὸ τέταρτον ἐπέσσυτο δαίμονι ἶσος’
`

kal

»
δαιμονίη, τί νύ σε Πρίαμος Πριάμοιό τε παῖδες
τόσσα κακὰ ῥέζουσιν, ὅ τ᾽ ἀσπερχὲς μενεαίνεις

Ἰλίου ἐξαλαπάξαι ἐυκτίμενον πτολίεθρον;
μ ρ

e wn 2 κ ο... ΄ LAME A
ὡς τῶν δαιμόνων μικτὴν καὶ ἀνώμαλον φύσιν ἐχόν-
των καὶ προαίρεσιν. ὅθεν ὁ μὲν Πλάτων ᾿Ὄλυμ-
πίοις θεοῖς τὰ δεξιὰ καὶ περιττὰ τὰ δ᾽ ἀντίφωνα
Β τούτων δαίµοσιν ἀποδίδωσιν. ὁ δὲ Ξενοκράτης καὶ
τῶν ἡμερῶν τὰς ἀποφράδας καὶ τῶν ἑορτῶν ὅσαι
LA A A A / A + A
πληγάς τινας ἢ κοπετοὺς ἢ νηστείας ἢ δυσφημίας ἢ
> LA La a - - 94
αἰσχρολογίαν ἔχουσιν οὔτε θεῶν τιμαῖς οὔτε δαι-
‘4 [.4 + - 3 3 F ΄
μόνων οἴεται προσήκειν χρηστῶν, ἀλλ᾽ εἶναι φύσεις
ἐν τῷ περιέχοντι μεγάλας μὲν καὶ ἰσχυράς, δυστρό-
\ a
πους δὲ καὶ σκυθρωπάς, at χαίρουσι τοῖς τοιούτοις,
8 y ` > 4 N A 2
καὶ τυγχάνουσαι πρὸς οὐδὲν ἄλλο χεῖρον τρέπονται"
Τοὺς δὲ χρηστοὺς πάλιν καὶ ἀγαθοὺς 6 θ᾽
62

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 361

gained from the gods,’* but that the epithet derived

from the demigods (or daemons) he uses of the worthy

and worthless alike ® ; for example :

Daemon-possessed, come on! Why seek you to frighten the
Argives

Thus? ὁ

᾿ and again

When for the fourth time onward he came with a rush, like
a daemon ἃ:
and

Daemon-possessed, in what do Priam and children of Priam
Work you such ill that your soul is ever relentlessly eager
Ilium, fair-built city, to bring to complete desolation ? €
The assumption, then, is that the demigods (or
daemons) have a complex and inconsistent nature
and purpose; wherefore Plato’ assigns to the
Olympian gods right-hand qualities and odd numbers,
and to the demigods the opposite of these. Xeno-
crates also is of the opinion that such days as are days
of ill omen, and such festivals as have associated with
them either beatings or lamentations or fastings or
scurrilous language or ribald jests have no relation to
the honours paid to the gods or to worthy demigods,
but he believes that there exist in the space about us
certain great and powerful natures, obdurate, how-
ever, and morose, which take pleasure in such things
as these, and, if they succeed in obtaining them,
resort to nothing worse.

Then again, Hesiod calls the worthy and good

@ See Homer, Od. vi. 12. d Cf. 415 a, infra.

5 Iliad, xiii. 810. 4 Ibid. v. 438, xiv. 705, xx. 447.

e Ibid. iv. 31.

1 Plato, Laws, 717 a, assigns the Even and the Left to the
chthonic deities, and Plutarch quite correctly derives his
statement from this.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

361) Ησίοδος “' ἀγνοὺςὶ Saipovas”’ καὶ “ φύλακας ἀν-
7 a? yy + Ho
θρώπων ” προσαγορεύει,

πλουτοδότας καὶ τοῦτο γέρας βασιλήιον᾽ ἔχοντας.

ο η ta ε . A "~ ae 1 L
18 τε Πλάτων ἑρμηνευτικὸν τὸ τοιοῦτον ὀνομάζει
γένος καὶ διακονικὸν ἐν μέσῳ θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων,
εὐχὰς μὲν ἐκεῖ καὶ δεήσεις ἀνθρώπων ἀναπέμπον-
τας, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ μαντεῖα δεῦρο καὶ δόσεις ἀγαθῶν
,
φέρ ον ` . , ` r `
Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δὲ καὶ δίκας φησὶ διδόναι τοὺς
if: - ὭΣ > ΄ i F.
δαίµονας ὧν äv? ἐξαμάρτωσι καὶ πλημμελήσωσιν,
w’ ἐξαμ η

αἰθέριον μὲν γάρ σφε µένος πόντονδε διώκει,

πόντος δ᾽ ἐς χθονὸς οὖδας ἀπέπτυσε, γαῖα δ᾽
ἐς αὐγὰς"

ἠελίου ἀκάμαντος, ó δ᾽ αἰθέρος ἔμβαλε δίναις-

ἄλλος δ᾽ ἐξ ἄλλου δέχεται, στυγέουσι δὲ
πάντες"

N - Ρα a a Lil >

ἄχρι οὗ κολασθέντες οὕτω καὶ καθαρθέντες αὖθις
η A 2 ld . + 3 ΄

τὴν κατὰ φύσιν χώραν καὶ τάξιν ἀπολάβωσι.

D 27. Τούτων δὲ καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἀδελφὰ λέγε-
’ . ~ e a A e . ’
σθαί φασι περὶ Τυφῶνος, ws δεινὰ μὲν ὑπὸ φθόνου
καὶ δυσμενείας εἰργάσατο, καὶ πάντα πράγματα
ταράξας ἐνέπλησε κακῶν γῆν ὁμοῦ τε πᾶσαν καὶ
θάλατταν, εἶτα δίκην ἔδωκεν. ἡ δὲ τιμωρὸς

1 ἀγνοὺς] ἐσθλοὶ Hesiod, O.D. 123.

2 βασιλήιον] probably βασιλῇον (βασίλειον Ὁ) should be read
as the metre demands.

3 ἂν added by Duebner from Eusebius.

4 αὐγὰς in Hippolytus, Refutatio: αὖθις.

5 ἀκάμαντος] φαέθοντος Hippolytus.

a Hesiod, Works and Days, 123 and 253. Cf. Moralia,
431 Ἐ, infra.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 361

demigods “‘ holy deities” and “ guardiansof mortals”
and

Givers of wealth, and having therein a reward that is kingly.’

Plato ° calls this class of beings an interpretative
and ministering class, midway between gods and
men, in that they convey thither the prayers and
petitions of men, and thence they bring hither the
oracles and the gifts of good things.

Empedocles ¢ says also that the demigods must pay
the penalty for the sins that they commit and the
duties that they neglect :

Might of the Heavens chases them forth to the realm of
the Ocean ;

Ocean spews them out on the soil of the Earth, and
Earth drives them

Straight to the rays of the tireless Sun, who consigns
them to Heaven’s

Whirlings ; thus one from another receives them, but
ever with loathing ;

until, when they have thus been chastened and
purified, they recover the place and position to which
they belong in accord with Nature.

27. Stories akin to these and to others like them
they say are related about Typhon; how that,
prompted by jealousy and hostility, he wrought
terrible deeds and, by bringing utter confusion upon
all things, filled the whole Earth, and the ocean as
well, with ills, and later paid the penalty therefor.

> Works and Days, 126, repeated in 417 B, infra.
e Symposium, 202". Cf. also Moralia, 415 a and 416 c-r,
infra, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiq. i. TT.
@ Part of a longer passage from Empedocles; ef. H. Diels,
Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, i. p. 267, Empedocles, no. 115,
9-12. Cf. also Moralia, 830 F, | ;
65

(361)

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

Ὀσίριδος ἀδελφὴ καὶ γυνὴ τὴν Τυφῶνος σβέσασα
καὶ καταπαύσασα μανίαν καὶ λύτταν οὐ περιεῖδε
τοὺς ἄθλους καὶ τοὺς ἀγῶνας, οὓς ἀνέτλη, καὶ
f 5 - A . A ca F A .
πλάνας αὐτῆς καὶ πολλὰ μὲν ἔργα σοφίας πολλὰ ὃ
3 7 3 / ε αχ ` ΄ > `
ἀνδρείας, ἀμνηστίαν ὑπολαβοῦσα καὶ σιωπήν, ἀλλὰ
ταῖς ἁγιωτάταις ἀναμείξασα τελεταῖς εἰκόνας καὶ
ὑπονοίας καὶ μιμήματα’ τῶν τότε παθημάτων,
εὐσεβείας ὁμοῦ δίδαγμα καὶ παραμύθιον ἀνδράσι
καὶ γυναιξὶν ὑπὸ συμφορῶν ἐχομένοις ὁμοίων
+ 5 . . . 34 ? /
καθωσίωσεν. αὐτὴ δὲ καὶ "Όσιρις ἐκ δαιμόνων
> θῶ ὃ 3. > 1 i9 > 8 ‘ λ z $
ἀγαθῶν δι ἀρετὴν" εἰς θεοὺς μεταβαλόντες, ὡς
ὕστερον 'Ηρακλῆς καὶ Διόνυσος, ἅμα καὶ θεῶν καὶ
δαιμόνων οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου μεμιγμένας τιμὰς ἔχουσι
πανταχοῦ μέν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς" ὑπὲρ γῆν καὶ ὑπὸ γῆν
δυνάμενοι μέγιστον. od γὰρ ἄλλον εἶναι Σάραπιν
bal t F a Σαν y $
ἢ τὸν Πλούτωνά φασι, καὶ Ἶσιν τὴν Περσέφασσαν,
ε >A, , ” e Ed 4 A ¢£ Ji A
ὡς ᾿Αρχέμαχος εἴρηκεν ὁ Ἰὐβοεὺς καὶ ὁ Ποντικὸς
e λεί 6 ` , y K , TIA ,
Ηρακλείδης" τὸ χρηστήριον ἐν Κανώβῳ ov-
τωνος ἡγούμενος εἶναι.

98. Πτολεμαῖος δ᾽ 6 Σωτὴρ ὄναρ εἶδε᾽ τὸν ἐν
Σινώπη τοῦ Πλούτωνος κολοσσόν, οὐκ ἐπιστάμενος
οὐδ᾽ ἑωρακὼς πρότερον οἷος τὴν μορφὴν ἣν;
κελεύοντα κομίσαι τὴν ταχίστην αὐτὸν εἰς ᾿Αλεξ-
άνδρειαν, ἀγνοοῦντι δ᾽ αὐτῷ καὶ ἀποροῦντι ποῦ

/ 4 1 - ’ ` ”
καθίδρυται καὶ διηγουμένῳ τοῖς φίλοις τὴν ὄψιν

ς 7 ‘ ” ” ΄ 3
εὑρέθη πολυπλανὴς ἄνθρωπος ὄνομα Σωσίβιος ἐν

1 ὑπολαβοῦσα] ὑπολαβοῦσαν Meziriacus; ὑπολαβόντα Mark-
land; but cf. 473 ο, 3 μιμήματα Baxter: μίμημα.

3 ἀρετὴν Reiske: ἀρετῆς. 4 τοῖς Xylander: τούτοις.
ὑπὲρ γῆν καὶ] Xylander would omit.

"Ηρακλείδης Xylander: ἡράκλειτος.

ὄναρ εἶδε Baxter: ἀνεῖλε.
8 ἦν added by Meziriacus.

yon

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 361

But the avenger, the sister and wife of Osiris, after
she had quenched and suppressed the madness and
fury of Typhon, was not indifferent to the contests
and struggles which she had endured, nor to her own
wanderings nor to her manifold deeds of wisdom and
many feats of bravery, nor would she accept oblivion
and silence for them, but she intermingled in the
most holy rites portrayals and suggestions and re-
presentations of her experiences at that time, and
sanctified them, both as a lesson in godliness and an
encouragement for men and women who find them-
selves in the clutch of like calamities. She herself
and Osiris, translated for their virtues from good
demigods into gods,* as were Heracles and Dionysus
later,? not incongruously enjoy double honours, both
those of gods and those of demigods, and their powers
extend everywhere, but are greatest in the regions
above the earth and beneath the earth. In fact,
men assert that Pluto is none other than Serapis and
that Persephoné is Isis, even as Archemachus € of
Euboea has said, and also Heracleides Ponticus 4 who
holds the oracle in Canopus to be an oracle of Pluto.

28. Ptolemy Soter saw in a dream the colossal
statue of Pluto in Sinopé, not knowing nor having
ever seen how it looked, and in his dream the statue
bade him convey it with all speed to Alexandria. He
had no information and no means of knowing where
the statue was situated, but as he related the vision
to his friends there was discovered for him a much
travelled man by the name of Sosibius, who said that

4 Cf. 363 x, infra.
è Cf. Moralia, 857 Ὁ.
ε Müller, Frag. Hist. Graec. iv. p. 315, no. Te
4 Ibid, ii. 198 or Frag. 103, ed. Voss.

362

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

Σινώπῃ φάμενος ἑωρακέναι τοιοῦτον κολοσσὸν
οἷον ὁ βασιλεὺς ἰδεῖν ἔδοξεν. ἔπεμψεν οὖν Σωτέλη
καὶ Διονύσιον of χρόνῳ πολλῷ καὶ μόλις, οὐκ
ἄνευ μέντοι θείας προνοίας, ἤγαγον ἐκκλέψαντες.
3 ` . ` y + ε ~ +
ἐπεὶ δὲ κομισθεὶς ὤφθη, συμβαλόντες οἱ περὶ Τιμό-
θεον τὸν ἐξηγητὴν καὶ Μανέθωνα τὸν Σεβεννύτην
Πλούτωνος ὂν ἄγαλμα, τῷ Κερβέρῳ τεκµαιρό-
μενοι καὶ τῷ δράκοντι, πείθουσι τὸν ΠἩτολεμαῖον
e τ δ A + τ 2 A ΄ τ ὦ »
ὡς ἑτέρου θεῶν οὐδενὸς ἀλλὰ Σαράπιδός ἐστιν.
od γὰρ ἐκεῖθεν οὕτως" ὀνομαζόμενος ἧκεν, ἀλλ᾽
? 3 + . . > > t
εἰς ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν κομισθεὶς τὸ παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίοις
ὄνομα τοῦ ἨἩλούτωνος ἐκτήσατο τὸν Σάραπιν.
καὶ μέντοι" “Ἡρακλείτου τοῦ φυσικοῦ λέγοντος,
κο ` , enya 5 / Η
Αιδης καὶ Διόνυσος ωὗτὸς' ὅτεῳ μαίνονται καί
ληναΐζουσιν, 5 εἰς ταύτην ὑπάγουσι τὴν δόξαν. ot
‘A > - y + ` - A ~
γὰρ ἀξιοῦντες "Αιδην λέγεσθαι τὸ σῶμα τῆς ψυχῆς
οἷον παραφρονούσης καὶ μεθυούσης ἐν αὐτῷ,
+ 3 ~ t ~ . y
γλίσχρως ἀλληγοροῦσι. - βέλτιον δὲ τὸν "Όσιριν
εἰς ταὐτὸ συνάγειν τῷ Διονύσῳ, τῷ τ᾽ ᾿Ὀσίριδι τὸν
σ
Σάραπιν, ὅτε τὴν φύσιν μετέβαλε, ταύτης τυχόντι"
τῆς προσηγορίας. διὸ πᾶσι κοινὸς ὁ Σάραπίς ἐστι,
e 11 io» ε a τ. 5 ΄
ὡς δὴ τὸν "Όσιρι of τῶν ἱερῶν μεταλαβόντες
ἴσασιν.

1 Διονύσιον from 984 a: διόνυσον.
οὕτως Salmasius: οὗτος.
μέντοι] Schellens would add τὰ.
ωὐτὸς Wyttenbach from Eusebius: οὗτος,
5 ὅτεῳ . . . ληναΐζουσιν from Clement of Alexandra, Pro-
trepticus 34 (p. 30 Potter): ὅτε οὖν . . « ληραίνουσιν.
5 τυχόντι Squire: τυχόντα.
7 δὴ Bernardakis: δὲ.

ew τὸ

a Cf. Moralia, 984.4; Tacitus, Histories, iv. 83-84, wha
tells the story more dramatically and with more detail;

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 361-362

he had seen in Sinopé just such a great statue as
the king thought he saw. Ptolemy, therefore, sent
Soteles and Dionysius, who, after a considerable time
and with great difficulty, and not without the help of
divine providence, succeeded in stealing thestatue and
bringing it away.* When it had been conveyed to
Egypt and exposed to view, Timotheus, the expositor
of sacred law, and Manetho of Sebennytus, and their
associates, conjectured that it was the statue of
Pluto, basing their conjecture on the Cerberus and
the serpent with it, and they convinced Ptolemy that
it was the statue of none other of the gods but Serapis.
It certainly did not bear this name when it came from
Sinope, but, after it had been conveyed to Alexandria,
it took to itself the name which Pluto bears among
the Egyptians, that of Serapis. Moreover, since
Heracleitus ὃ the physical philosopher says, “ The
same are Hades and Dionysus, to honour whom they
rage and rave,” people are inclined to come to this
opinion. In fact, those who insist that the body is
called Hades, since the soul is, as it were, deranged
and inebriate when it is in the body, are too frivolous
in their use of allegory. It is better to identify
Osiris with Dionysus ¢ and Serapis with Osiris,? who
received this appellation at the time when he changed
his nature. For this reason Serapis is a god of all
peoples in common, even as Osiris is ; and this they
who have participated in the holy rites well know.

Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus, iv. 48 (p. 42 Potter) :
Origen, Against Celsus, v. 38.

> Cf. Diels, Frag. der Vorsokratiker, i. 81, Heracleitus
no. 14.

ο Cf. 356 B, supra, and 364 D, infra.

4 Cf. 376 a, infra, and Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. Sarapis (vol.
i a, col, 2394).

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(362) 29. Οὐ γὰρ ἄξιον προσέχειν τοῖς Φρυγίοις γράμ-
μασιν, ἐν οἷς λέγεται Σάραπις υἱὸς μὲν τοῦ
“Ἡρακλέους γενέσθαι θυγάτηρ T” Iois, ᾿Αλκαίου"
δὲ τοῦ “Ἡρακλέους ὁ Tupar: οὐδὲ Φυλάρχου" μὴ
καταφρονεῖν γράφοντος ὅτι πρῶτος εἰς Αἴγυπτον
> > - / ww + "~ - > ~ 4

C ἐξ Ἰνδῶν Διόνυσος ἤγαγε δύο βοῦς, ὧν ἦν τῷ μὲν
> ” noo» ΄ » 5 -
Ams ὄνομα τῷ δ᾽ "Όσιρις' Σάραπις δ᾽ ὄνομα τοῦ
τὸ πᾶν κοσμοῦντός ἐστι παρὰ τὸ “ σαΐριν, 6
καλλύνειν τινὲς καὶ κοσμεῖν λέγουσιν. ἄτοπα γὰρ

~ m 7 n or / AB κ
ταῦτα τοῦ Φυλάρχου, πολλῷ δ᾽ ἀτοπώτερα τὰ" τῶν
λεγόντων οὐκ εἶναι θεὸν τὸν Σάραπιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν
"Απιδος σορὸν οὕτως ὀνομάζεσθαι, καὶ χαλκᾶς
τινας ἐν Μέμφει πύλας λήθης καὶ κωκυτοῦ προσ-
αγορευοµένας, ὅταν θάπτωσι τὸν "Απιν, ἀνοίγε-

. A t ΄ X 3
σθαι, βαρὺ καὶ σκληρὸν ψοφούσας' διὸ παντὸς
ἠχοῦντος ἡμᾶς χαλκώματος ἐπιλαμβάνεσθαι. με-
τριώτερον' δ᾽ οὗ παρὰ τὸ “ σεύεσθαι 7 καὶ τὸ
“ σοῦσθαι ’ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἅμα κίνησιν εἰρῆσθαι
D φάσκοντες. οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἱερέων εἰς ταὐτό
` ” , . ` 5

φασι τὸν "Όσιρι συμπεπλέχθαι καὶ τὸν "Απιν,
ἐξηγούμενοι καὶ διδάσκοντες ἡμᾶς, ὡς ἔμμορφον"
εἰκόνα χρὴ νομίζειν τῆς σιριδος ψυχῆς τὸν

1 Σάραπις Reiske, υἱὸς F.C.B. (the context seems to require
Σάραπις here): χαροπῶς τοὺς.

> 7 added by F.C.B.

3 Iois Emperius, "Αλκαίου F.C.B.: ἰσαιακοῦ.

Φυλάρχου Nylander: φιλάρχου.

τὰ added by Squire.

μετριώτερον] μετριώτεροι Baxter.

οἱ added by Xylander.

ἔμμορφον, as in 368 ο, Wyttenbach: εὔμορφον.

o Of. Cicero, De Natura Deorum, iii. 16 (42).
è Gf. Pauly-Wissowa, l.c., col. 2396-2397, for other etymolo-
gies. The derivation from sairein (sweep) is wholly fanciful.

oa mo è

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 362

29. It is not worth while to pay any attention to
the Phrygian writings,* in which it is said that Serapis
was the son of Heracles, and Isis was his daughter,
and Typhon was the son of Alcaeus, who also was
a son of Heracles; nor must we fail to contemn
Phylarchus, who writes that Dionysus was the first to
bring from India into Egypt two bulls, and that the
name of one was Apis and of the other Osiris. But
Serapis is the name of him who sets the universe in
order, and it is derived from “ sweep ” (satrein), which
some say means “ to beautify ” and “to put inorder.” è
As a matter of fact, these statements of Phylarchus
are absurd, but even more absurd are those put forth
by those who say that Serapis is no god at all, but
the name of the coffin of Apis; and that there are
in Memphis certain bronze gates called the Gates of
Oblivion and Lamentation,¢ which are opened when
the burial of Apis takes place, and they give out a
deep and harsh sound ; and it is because of this that
we lay hand upon anything of bronze that gives out
a sound.4 More moderate is the statement of those
who say that the derivation® is from ‘ shoot”
(seuesthat) or “ scoot ” (sousthai), meaning the general
movement of the universe. Most of the priests say
that Osiris and Apis are conjoined into one, thus
explaining to us and informing us that we must regard
Apis as the bodily image of the soul of Osiris. But

ο OF. Diodorus, i. 96, and Pausanias, i. 18. 4, with Frazer’s
note,

4 Cf. Moralia, 995 £-F ; Aristotle, Frag. 196 (ed. Rose);
or Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras, 41.

* This derivation (from seuesthai or sousthai) is also
fanciful.

f Cf. 359 B, supra, and 368 c, infra, and Diodorus, i. 85.

vel

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

Ld
(803) Ἆπιν. ἐγὼ δέ, εἰ μὲν Αἰγύπτιόν ἐστι τοὔνομα
τοῦ Σαράπιδ. ἠφροσύν: τὸ δηλοῦν οἴομαι
ράπιδος, εὐφροσύνην αὐτὸ δηλοῦν oto;

ο e ‘
καὶ χαρμοσύνην, τεκμαιρόμενος ὅτι τὴν ἑορτὴν
Αἰγύπτιοι τὰ χαρμόσυνα “ σαίρει”’ καλοῦσιν. καὶ

- 3
γὰρ Πλάτων τὸν "Αιδην ὡς ὠφελήσιμον' τοῖς παρ
αὐτῷ" γενομένοις καὶ προσηνῆ θεὸν ὠνομάσθαι
φησί: καὶ παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίοις ἄλλα τε πολλὰ τῶν
ὀνομάτων λόγοι εἰσί) καὶ τὸν ὑποχθόνιον τόπον,
εἰς ὃν οἴονται τὰς ψυχὰς ἀπέρχεσθαι μετὰ τὴν
τελευτήν, ᾿Αμένθην καλοῦσι, σημαίνοντος τοῦ
5. . κ + . £ 1 . .

E ὀνόματος τὸν λαμβάνοντα καὶ διδόντα. εἶ δὲ καὶ
τοῦτο τῶν ἐκ τῆς "Ἑλλάδος ἀπελθόντων πάλαι
καὶ μετακομισθέντων ὀνομάτων ἕν ἐστιν, ὕστερον
? + ~ A . . lad > . la
ἐπισκεψόμεθα: νῦν δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς ἐν χεροὶ δόξης
προσδιέλθωμεν.

80. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ "Όσιρις καὶ ἡ “Tous ἐκ δαιμόνων
ἀγαθῶν εἰς θεοὺς μετήλλαξαν: τὴν δὲ τοῦ Τυφῶνος
ἠμαυρωμένην καὶ συντετριμμένην δύναμω», ἔτι δὲ
καὶ ψυχορραγοῦσαν καὶ σφαδῴζουσαν, ἔστιν αἷς

n . oh
παρηγοροῦσι θυσίαις καὶ πραὔνουσιν: ἔστι δ᾽ ὅτε
+ 3 A . ’ pA
F πάλιν ἐκταπεινοῦσι καὶ καθυβρίζουσιν év τισιν
ἑορταῖς, τῶν μὲν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς πυρροὺς καὶ
προπηλακίζοντες, ὄνον δὲ καὶ κατακρημνίζοντες,
ὡς Κοπτῖται, διὰ τὸ πυρρὸν γεγονέναι τὸν Τυφῶνα
καὶ ὀνώδη τὴν χρόαν' Βουσιρῖται δὲ καὶ Λυκο-
πολῖται σάλπιγξι οὐ χρῶνται τὸ παράπαν ὡς ὄνῳ
φθεγγομέναις ἐμφερές. καὶ ὅλως τὸν ὄνον οὐ

1 ὠφελήσιμον F.C.B. (cf. Plato, Cratyl. 403 £ μέγας εὐεργέτης
τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτῷ): αἰδοῦς υἱὸν. 3 αὑτῷ Wyttenbach: αὐτοῦ.
3 λόγοι εἰσὶ] λόγον ἔχει Pohlenz.
πο

ISIS AND OSIRIS. 362

it is my opinion that, if the name Serapis is Egyptian,
it denotes cheerfulness and rejoicing, and I base this
opinion on the fact that the Egyptians call their
festival of rejoicing φαίνει. In fact, Plato“ says
that Hades is so named because he is a beneficent and
gentle god towards those who have come to abide
with him. Moreover, among the Egyptians many
others of the proper names are real words; for
example, that place beneath the earth, to which they
believe that souls depart after the end of this life,
they call Amenthes, the name signifying ‘‘ the one
who receives and gives.” Whether this is one of
those words which came from Greece in very ancient
times and were brought back again ὃ we will consider
later, but for the present let us go on to discuss the
remainder of the views now before us.

30. Now Osiris and Isis changed from good minor
deities into gods.4 But the power of Typhon,
weakened and crushed, but still fighting and strug-
gling against extinction, they try to console and mollify
by certain sacrifices ; but again there are times when,
at certain festivals, they humiliate and insult him by
assailingred-headedmen with jeering, and by throwing
an ass over the edge of a precipice, as the people of
Kopto do, because Typhon had red hair and in colour
resembled an ass. The people of Busiris’ and
Lycopolis do not use trumpets at all, because these
make a sound like an 3555; and altogether they

a Plato, Cratylus, 403 α-404 a, suggests various deriva-
tions of the name Hades.

> Cf. 375 E-F, infra.

e Cf. 375 D, infra. å Cf. 361 E, supra.
Cf. 359 E, supra, and 364 a, infra; for Kopto cf. 356 D.
Cf. Moralia, 150 £-F.
Cf. Aelian, De Natura Animalium, x. 28.

awo

363

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

καθαρὸν ἀλλὰ δαιμονικὸν ἡγοῦνται ζῷον εἶναι διὰ
τὴν πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ὁμοιότητα, καὶ πόπανα ποιοῦντες
> + - ο. A 3 ~ ` 4
ἐν θυσίαις τοῦ τε Παῦνὶ καὶ τοῦ Φαωφὶ μηνὸς
ἐπιπλάττουσι παράσημον ὄνον δεδεμένον. ἐν δὲ
τῇ τοῦ ἡλίου θυσίᾳ τοῖς σεβομένοις' τὸν θεὸν παρεγ-
γνῶσι μὴ φορεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ σώματι χρυσία μηδ᾽ ὄνῳ

A / LA A . ε .
τροφὴν διδόναι. φαίνονται δὲ καὶ οἱ Πυθαγορικοὶ
τὸν ᾿Γυφῶνα δαιμονικὴν ἡγούμενοι δύναμιν. λέ-
γουσι γὰρ ἐν ἀρτίῳ μέτρῳ ἕκτῳ καὶ πεντηκοστῷ
γεγονέναι Τυφῶνα: καὶ πάλιν τὴν μὲν τοῦ τριγώνου
[4 . + cn 4 A A
Άϊδου καὶ Διονύσου καὶ "Αρεος εἶναι" τὴν δὲ τοῦ

” e ‘4 y9 ΤΑ a f.
τετραγώνου “Ῥέας καὶ ᾿Αφροδίτης καὶ Δήμητρος
ve + ,¢ 2 A . - 7

καὶ “Εστίας καὶ ρας”: τὴν δὲ τοῦ δωδεκαγώνου
Διός" τὴν δ ἑκκαιπεντηκονταγωνίου" Τυφῶνος,
ὡς Εὔδοξος ἑστόρηκεν.

B 31. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ πυρρόχρουν γεγονέναι τὸν

Τυφῶνα νομίζοντες καὶ τῶν βοῶν τοὺς πυρροὺς
καθιερεύουσιν, οὕτως ἀκριβῆ ποιούμενοι τὴν παρα-
+ 3
τήρησω, ὥστε, κἂν μίαν ἔχῃ τρίχα μέλαιναν ἢ
2 5 ς a z A 3 ’
λευκήν, ἄθυτον ἡγεῖσθαι. θύσιμον γὰρ οὐ φίλον
> A > . . ’ big . 3 ’
εἶναι θεοῖς, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον, ὅσα ψυχὰς ἀνοσίων
ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀδίκων εἰς ἕτερα μεταμορφουμένων
σώματα συνείληφε. διὸ τῇ μὲν κεφαλῇ τοῦ

`
ἱερείου καταρασάµενοι καὶ ἀποκόψαντες εἰς τὸν

1 σεβομένοις Xylander: ἐσομένοις.

2 καὶ Ἡρας] Emperius would omit.

5 τὴν δ] τὴν δὲ τοῦ Reiske; but, if we can trust the
mss., Plutarch is very inconstant in keeping to a uniform
phraseology.

4 ἐκκαιπεντηκονταγωνίου Xylander: ὀκτωκαιπεντήκοντα:
γωνίου.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 362-363

regard the ass as an unclean animal dominated by
some higher power because of its resemblance to
Typhon,* and when they make cakes at their sacri-
fices in the month of Pajni and of Phaophi they
imprint upon them the device of an ass tied by a
rope. Moreover, in the sacrifice to the Sun they
enjoin upon the worshippers not to wear any golden
ornaments nor to give fodder to an ass. It is plain
that the adherents of Pythagoras hold Typhon to be
a daemonic power ; for they say that he was born in
an even factor of fifty-six; and the dominion of the
triangle belongs to Hades, Dionysus, and Ares, that
of the quadrilateral to Rhea, Aphrodité, Demeter,
Hestia, and Hera, that of the dodecagon to Zeus,° and
that of a polygon of fifty-six sides to Typhon, as
Eudoxus has recorded.

31. The Egyptians, because of their belief that
Typhon was of a red complexion, also dedicate to
sacrifice such of their neat cattle as are of a red
colour,’ but they conduct the examination of these so
scrupulously that, if an animal has but one hair black
or white, they think it wrong to sacrifice 117; for they
regard as suitable for sacrifice not what is dear te the
gods but the reverse, namely, such animals as have
incarnate in them souls of unholy and unrighteous
men who have been transformed into other bodies.
For this reason they invoke curses on the head of the
victim and cut it off, and in earlier times they used to

* Cf. Moralia, 150 F.

δ Cf. 371 D, infra.

e As the chief of the twelve gods presumably ; of. Hero-
dotus, ii. 4.

4 Cf. 359 £, supra, and 364 a, infra,

e Cf. Diodorus, i. 88,

! Cf. Herodotus, ii. 38, and Diodorus, i. 88.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

2 ~ LY a
(363) ποταμὸν ἐρρίπτουν πάλαι, νῦν δὲ τοῖς ξένους
2 lá . ` lÀ z A, ε
ἀποδίδονται. τὸν δὲ μέλλοντα θύεσθαι βοῦν οἱ
C σφραγισταὶ λεγόμενοι τῶν ἱερέων κατεσημαίνοντο,
τῆς σφραγῖδος, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Κάστωρ, γλυφὴν μὲν
ἐχούσης ἄνθρωπον εἰς γόνυ καθεικότα ταῖς χερσὶν
ὀπίσω περιηγμέναις, ἔχοντα κατὰ τῆς σφαγῆς
ξίφος ἐγκείμενον: ἀπολαύειν δὲ καὶ τὸν ὄνον,
“ - +
ὥσπερ εἴρηται, τῆς ὁμοιότητος διὰ τὴν ἀμαθίαν
καὶ τὴν ὕβριν οὐχ ἧττον ἢ διὰ τὴν χρόαν οἴονται.
. - -
διὸ καὶ τῶν Ι[ερσικῶν βασιλέων ἐχθραίνοντες
μάλιστα τὸν ὮὯχον ὡς ἐναγῆ καὶ μιαρόν, ὄνον
ἐπωνόμασαν. κἀκεῖνος εἰπών, “Ò μέντοι ὄνος
οὗτος ὑμῶν κατευωχήσεται τὸν βοῦν,’ ἔθυσε τὸν
ΣΑ 5 A e / ε δὲ λέ >
«"Απιν, ὡς Δείνων ἱστόρηκεν. οἱ δὲ λέγοντες ἐκ
A / > > y - ~ y A e .
D τῆς μάχης ἐπ᾽ ὄνου τῷ Τυφῶνι τὴν φυγὴν ἑπτὰ
ἡμέρας γενέσθαι, καὶ σωθέντα γεννῆσαι παῖδας
ε SÀ . Η! - » 7. ΛΑ. ΄
Ἱεροσόλυμον καὶ ᾿Ιουδαῖον, αὐτόθεν εἰσὶ κατάδηλοι
τὰ ᾿Ιουδαϊκὰ παρέλκοντες εἰς τὸν μῦθον.
~ . T rg 1 if ’
32. Tatra μεν οὖν τοιαύτας υπονοίας δίδωσον-
3 > 3, 3 3 ~ - ΄ ’ ’
ἀπ᾽ ἄλλης δ᾽ ἀρχῆς τῶν φιλοσοφώτερόν τι λέγειν
δοκούντων τοὺς ἁπλουστάτους σκεψώμεθα πρῶτον.
- > 3 4 τ / ο τ, 5 ’
οὗτοι δ᾽ εἰσὶν οἱ λέγοντες, ὥσπερ Ἕλληνες Κρόνον
3 ~ . / σ t 4 37 t
ἀλληγοροῦσι τὸν χρόνον, ραν δὲ τὸν ἀέρα, yé-
a ¢ / Ν $ - 37 ’
veow δὲ "Ηφαίστου τὴν εἰς πῦρ ἀέρος μεταβολήν,
οὕτω παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίοις Νεῖλον εἶναι τὸν "Όσιριν
1 ἡμέρας Markland: ἡμέραις.
3 δοκούντων Eusebius, Praep. Ev. iii. 3: δυναμένων.

a “To Greeks,” says Herodotus, ii. 39. Cf. Deuteronomy
xiv. 21,“ Thou shalt give it (sc. anything that dieth of itself)
unto the stranger that is in thy gates... or thou
mayest sell it unto an alien.”

δ Of. Herodotus, ii. 38, and Porphyry, De Abstinentia,
iv. 7.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 968

throw it into the river, but now they sell it to aliens,"
Upon the neat animal intended for sacrifice those of
the priests who were called “ Sealers ὃ used to put
a mark; and their seal, as Castor records, bore an .
engraving of a man with his knee on the ground and
his hands tied behind his back, and with a sword at
his throat.° They think, as has been said,@ that the
ass reaps the consequences of his resemblance
because of his stupidity and his lascivious behaviour
no less than because of his colour. This is also
the reason why, since they hated Ochus* most of
all the Persian kings because he was a detested
and abominable ruler, they nicknamed him “ the
Ass”; and he remarked, “ But this Ass will feast
upon your Bull,” and slaughtered Apis, as Deinon has
recorded. But those who relate that Typhon’s flight
from the battle was made on the back of an ass and
lasted for seven days, and that after he had made his
escape, he became the father of sons, Hierosolymus
and Judaeus, are manifestly, as the very names show,
attempting to drag Jewish traditions‘ into the legend.

32. Such, then, are the possible interpretations
which these facts suggest. But now let us begin over
again, and consider first the most perspicuous of those
who have a reputation for expounding matters more
philosophically. These men are like the Greeks who
say that Cronus is but a figurative name for Chronus 7
(Time), Hera for Air, and that the birth of Hephaestus
symbolizes the change of Air into Fire.” And thus
among the Egyptians such men say that Osiris is the

e Cf. Diodorus, 1. 88. 4-5. å 362 F, supra.
e Cf. 355 ο, supra, and Aelian, Varia Historia, iv. 8,
t Cf. Tacitus, Histories, v. 9.
΄ Cf. Cicero, De Natura Deorum, ii. 25 (64).
> Cf. 392 ο, infra.

τη

(568)

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA -

Ἴσιδι συνόντα τῇ γῇ, Τυφῶνα δὲ τὴν θάλατταν,
> a e - > £ > + *
εἰς ἣν ὁ Νεῖλος ἐμπίπτων ἀφανίζεται καὶ δια-
σπᾶται, πλὴν ὅσον ἡ γῆ μέρος ἀναλαμβάνουσα
καὶ δεχομένη γίγνεται γόνιμος ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ.
Κ . αι > e κ; ᾱ-. κ A , 1 io , 9
αἱ θρῆνός ἐστιν ἱερὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ Κρόνου' ᾠδόμενος”'
θρηνεῖ δὲ τὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς γιγνόμενον μέρεσιν,
? X a - + re A
ἐν δὲ τοῖς δεξιοῖς φθειρόμενον: Αἰγύπτιοι γὰρ
οἴονται τὰ μὲν ἑῷα τοῦ κόσμου πρόσωπον εἶναι,
A 4 . - ΄ . κ A t » ΄
τὰ δὲ πρὸς βορρᾶν δεξιά, τὰ δὲ πρὸς νότον ἀριστερά.
+ x 3 ~ ’ ε - . A
φερόμενος οὖν ἐκ τῶν νοτίων ó Νεῖλος, ἐν δὲ
τοῖς βορείοις ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάττης καταναλισκόμενος,
εἰκότως λέγεται τὴν μὲν γένεσιν ἐν τοῖς ἀριστεροῖς
s ‘ . . = - - A rd
ἔχειν, τὴν δὲ φθορὰν ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς. διὸ τήν
τε θάλατταν οἱ ἱερεῖς ἀφοσιοῦνται καὶ τὸν ἅλα
Τυφῶνος ἀφρὸν καλοῦσι" καὶ τῶν ἀπαγορευομένων
τ᾽ > kA a > ‘ β΄ T bi ?,
ἕν ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τραπέζης ἅλα μὴ προτίθεσθαι.
καὶ κυβερνήτας οὐ προσαγορεύουσιν, ὅτι χρῶνται
θαλάττῃ καὶ τὸν βίον ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης ἔχουσιν.
οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ καὶ τὸν ἰχθὺν ἀπὸ ταύτης προβάλ-
λονται τῆς αἰτίας, καὶ τὸ μισεῖν ἰχθύι γράφουσιν.
3 Σ , 3 ~ > - 5A, at ~ ~ ° AB. -
ἐν Ede? γοῦν ἐν τῷ προπύλῳ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τῆς ᾿Αθηνᾶς
Av γεγλυμμένον βρέφος, γέρων, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον"
eer 3 - > 71 + oN ~ 259 p:
ἱέραξ, ἐφεξῆς δ᾽ ἰχθύς, ἐπὶ πᾶσι δ᾽ ἵππος ποτάμιος.
1 + 4 ~ oc ΄ . 3
ἐδήλου δὲ συμβολικῶς, “ ὦ γιγνόμενοι καὶ ano-
1 Κρόνου] Νείλου Meziriacus.
nee id a ~ ,
2 ἀδόμενος F.C.B.: γενόμενος. ([ἐπὶ] τοῦ Κ. λεγόμενος, Hart-
man, avoids hiatus, but hiatus is not unknown in Plutarch.)

3 Σάει Hatzidakis (confirmed by papyri): Zde.
4 τοῦτον Bernardakis: τοῦτο.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 363

Nile consorting with the Earth, which is Isis, and that
the sea is Typhon into which the Nile discharges its
waters and is lost to view and dissipated, save for that
part which the earth takes up and absorbs and thereby
becomes fertilized.*

There is also a religious lament sung over Cronus.®
The lament is for him that is born in the regions on
the left, and suffers dissolution in the regions on the
right; for the Egyptians believe that the eastern
regions are the face of the world, the northern the
right, and the southern the left. The Nile, therefore,
which runs from the south and is swallowed up by the
sea in the north, is naturally said to have its birth on
the left and its dissolution on the right. For this
reason the priests religiously keep themselves aloof
from the sea, and call salt the “spume of Typhon ”;
and one of the things forbidden them is to set salt upon
a table?; also they do not speak to pilots,? because
these men make use of the sea, and gain their liveli-
hood from the sea. This is also not the least of the
reasons why they eschew fish,’ and they portray hatred
by drawing the picture of a fish. At Sais in the vesti-
bule of the temple of Athena was carved a babe and
an aged man, and after this a hawk, and next a fish,
and finally an hippopotamus. The symbolic meaning
of this was’: “O ye that are coming into the world

a Cf. 366 a, infra.

δ For Cronus as representing rivers and water see Pauly-
Wissowa, xi. 1987-1988.

ο Cf. Moralia, 282 n- and 729 g.

4 Ibid. 685 a and 729 a.

5 Ibid. 729 c.

’ Cf. 353 c, supra.

9 There is a lacuna in one ms. (E) at this point (God hateth
. . . of departing from it). The supplement is from Clement
of Alexandria ; see the critical note.

364

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

εννόμενοι, θεὸς! ἀναίδειαν μισεῖ’ τὸ μὲν yà
γιγνόμενοι, p p

B ’ ’ , À 8 - δ᾽ e ,
ρέφος γενέσεως σύμβολον, φθορᾶς ὁ γέρων.
ev δ . 4 β x + 1. 0 , δὲ -
ἱέρακι δὲ τὸν θεὸν φράζουσιν, ἰχθύι δὲ μῖσος,
ὥσπερ εἴρηται, διὰ τὴν θάλατταν, ἵππῳ ποταμίῳ
5᾽ ἀναίδειαν: λέγεται γὰρ ἀποκτείνας τὸν πατέρα
τῇ μητρὶ βίᾳ μείγνυσθαι. δόξειε δὲ räv? τὸ ὑπὸ
τῶν Πυθαγορικῶν λεγόμενον, ὡς ἡ θάλαττα
Κρόνου δάκρυόν ἐστιν, αἰνίττεσθαι τὸ μὴ καθαρὸν

. ΄ 2 oA

μηδὲ -σύμφυλον αὐτῆ. ος, eee .

Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἔξωθεν εἰρήσθω κοινὴν ἔχοντα την
ε + e δὲ / ~ ε / ?
ἱστορίαν. (383) οἱ δὲ σοφώτεροι τῶν ἱερέων ου

Ld hi N TA 0 xr ~ δὲ T -
μόνον τὸν Νεῖλον "Όσιριν καλοῦσω οὐδέ υφῶνα

A + 3 5» ` e - er 4
τὴν θάλατταν, ἀλλ᾽ "Οσιριν μὲν ἁπλῶς ἅπασαν την
ὑγροποιὸν ἀρχὴν καὶ δύναμιν, αἰτίαν γενέσεως καὶ
σπέρματος οὐσίαν νομίζοντες: Τυφῶνα δὲ πᾶν τὸ
αὐχμηρὸν καὶ πυρῶδες καὶ ξηραντικὸν ὅλως καὶ
πολέμιον τῇ ὑγρότητι. διὸ καὶ πύρρόχρουν᾽ ye-
γονέναι τῷ σώματι καὶ πάρωχρον νομίζοντες οὐ

rs ΄ > 4 Σ ας A ΄ e À A
πάνυ προθύμως ἐντυγχάνουσιν οὐδ᾽ ἡδέως ὁμιλοῦσι
τοῖς τοιούτοις τὴν ὄψιν ἀνθρώποις.

Τὸν δ᾽ "Όσιρι αὖ πάλιν μελάγχρουν γεγονέναι
μυθολογοῦσιν, ὅτι πᾶν ὕδωρ καὶ γῆν καὶ ἱμάτια
καὶ νέφη μελαίνει μειγνύμενον, καὶ τῶν νέων
ὑγρότης ἐνοῦσα παρέχει τὰς τρίχας μελαίνας: ἡ
δὲ πολίωσις οἷον ὠχρίασις ὑπὸ ξηρότητος ἐπι-

1 θεὸς... δ᾽ ὁ γέρων is supplied from Clement of Alex-
andria, Stromateis, v. 41. 4 (p. 670 Potter): δεο . . . γέρων
or δεογέρων. If it were not for the lacuna in E, it would be
possible to emend ᾧ γιγνόμενοι καὶ ἀπογιγνόμενοι ἐοίκαμεν.

3 δόξειε Baxter, δὲ κἂν F.C.B. (ἂν δὲ καὶ Baxter): δόξει δὲ καὶ.

8 πυρρόχρουν (=r χρόᾳ πυρρὸν, P- 359 κ) Bernardakis:
πυρρόχρων.

a Of. 371 τ, infra. è Of. 353 ο, supra.

80 -

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 363-364

and departing from it, God hateth shamelessness.”
The babe is the symbol of coming into the world and
the aged man the symbol of departing from it, and by
a hawk they indicate God,* by the fish hatred, as has
already been said,’ because of the sea, and by the
hippopotamus shamelessness ; for it is said that he
kills his sire® and forces his mother to mate with him.
That saying of the adherents of Pythagoras, that the
sea is a tear of Cronus,? may seem to hint at its impure
and extraneous nature.

Let this, then, be stated incidentally, as a matter
of record that is common knowledge. (33.) But the
wiser of the priests call not only the Nile Osiris and the
sea Typhon, but they simply give the name of Osiris
to the whole source and faculty creative of moisture,*
believing this to be the cause of generation and the
substance of life-producing seed; and the name of
Typhon they give to all that is dry, fiery, and arid
in general, and antagonistic to moisture. Therefore,
because they believe that he was personally of a
reddish sallow colour,’ they are not eager to meet
men of such complexion, nor do they like to associate
with them,

Osiris, on the other hand, according to their legend-
ary tradition, was dark,’ because water darkens
everything, earth and clothes and clouds, when it
comes into contact with them.*? In young people the
presence of moisture renders their hair black, while
greyness, like a paleness as it were, is induced by

5 A Porphyry, De Abstinentia, iii. 23.

ἆ Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, v. 50. 1. (p. 676
Potter), and Aristotle, Frag. 196 (ed. Rose).

e Cf. 365 B, infra. f Cf. 369 a and 376 F, infra.
1 Cf. 359 © and 968 B, supra,
a Cf. 359 £, supra. * Cf. Moralia, 950 a.
81

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

La - t 4 4 4 y

(864) γίγνεται τοῖς παρακμάζουσι. καὶ τὸ μέν εαρ
θαλερὸν καὶ γόνιμον καὶ προσηνές" τὸ δὲ φθινό-
πωρον ὑγρότητος ἐνδείᾳ καὶ φυτοῖς πολέμιον καὶ

C ζῴοις νοσῶδες. i

> ~
Ὁ 8 ἐν “Ἠλίου πόλει τρεφόμενος βοῦς, ὃν
M: “al À ~ 0 ’ ò δ᾽ e / my .
Μνεθιν' καλοῦσιν (Ὀσίριδος ἱερόν, ἔνιοι δὲ
. -ν / ’ / > .
καὶ τοῦ "Απιδος πατέρα νομίζουσι), μέλας ἐστὶ
καὶ δευτέρας ἔχει τιμὰς μετὰ τὸν Anw. ἔτι τὴν
Αἴγυπτον ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα μελάγγειον οὖσαν, ὥσ-
. ’ “~ 3 ~ la ~ `
περ τὸ μέλαν τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ, Χημίαν καλοῦσι καὶ
καρδίᾳ παρεικάζουσι' θερμὴ γάρ ἐστι καὶ ὑγρὰ
- - ο
καὶ τοῖς νοτίοις µέρεσι τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὥσπερ ἡ
καρδία τοῖς εὐωνύμοις τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, μάλιστα
ἐγκέκλειται καὶ προσκεχώρηκεν.

84. Ἥλιον δὲ καὶ σελήνην οὐχ ἅρμασιν ἆλ Ad.
πλοίοις ὀχήμασι χρωμένους περιπλεῖν φασιν’
D αἰνιττόμενοι τὴν ἀφ᾽ ὑγροῦ τροφὴν αὐτῶν καὶ
γένεσιν. οἴονται δὲ καὶ Ὅμηρον ὥσπερ Θαλῆν
µαθόντα παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίων ὕδωρ ἀρχὴν ἁπάντων
καὶ γένεσιν τίθεσθαι. τὸν γὰρ Ὠκεανὸν "Όσιρι

p ae 4a . . k e [4 id
εἶναι, τὴν δὲ Τηθὺν Ἶσιν, ὡς τιθηνουμένην πάντα
καὶ συνεκτρέφουσαν. καὶ γὰρ Ἕλληνες τὴν τοῦ
σπέρματος πρόεσιν᾽ ἀπουσίαν καλοῦσι καὶ συνου-
σίαν τὴν μεῖξιν, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ
τοῦ ὅσαι: καὶ τὸν Διόνυσον “ ὕην ” ὡς κύριον τῆς
ὑγρᾶς φύσεως, οὐχ ἕτερον ὄντα τοῦ Ὀσίριδος" καὶ

1 Μνεῦιν Basel ed. of 1542: μνύειν.

2 φασιν Badham; λέγουσιν Reiske: ἀεί.
3 πρὀεσιν Salmasius: πρόθεσιν.
p p

a ha VAN σης
a Cf. Aristotle, De Generatione Animalium, v. 1 (780 b 6).
è Cf. Diodorus, 1. 21; Eusebius, Praepar. Evang. ii.

13. 1-3; Strabo, xvii. 1. 22; Aelian, De Natura Animalium,

xi. 11

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 364

dryness in those who are passing their prime. Also
the spring-time is vigorous, prolific, and agreeable ;
but the autumn, since it lacks moisture, is inimical to
plants and unhealthful for living creatures.

The bull kept at Heliopolis which they call Mneuis,?
and which is sacred to Osiris (some hold it to be the
sire of Apis), is black and has honours second only to
Apis. Egypt, moreover, which has the blackest of
soils,° they call by the same name as the black portion
of the eye, “ Chemia,” and compare it to a heart 4; for
it is warm and moist and is enclosed by the southern
portions of the inhabited world and adjoins them, like
the heart in a man’s left side.

34. They say that the sun and moon do not use
chariots, but boats¢® in which to sail round in their
courses ; and by this they intimate that the nourish-
ment and origin of these heavenly bodies is from
moisture. They think also that Homer, like Thales,
had gained his knowledge from the Egyptians, when he
postulated water as the source and origin of all things;
for, according to them, Oceanus is Osiris, and T ethys
is Isis, since she is the kindly nurse and provider for all
things. In fact, the Greeks call emission apousiaS
and coition synousia, and the son (Aytos) from water
(hydor) and rain (hysat); Dionysus also they call
Hyes” since he is lord of the nature of moisture ; and
he is no other than Osiris.¢ In fact, Hellanicus seems

5 Cf. Herodotus, ii. 19,

4 Horapollo, Hieroglyphica, 1. 22.

e Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, v. 41. 2 (p. 566
Potter); Eusebius, Praepar. Evang. 111. 11. 48,

7 Il. xiv. 901.

9 Cf. Artemidorus, Oneirocritica, 1. 78.

è Cf. the name Hyades of the constellation.

t Cf. 356 n, 362 B, supra, and 365 a, infra.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(364) yap τὸν σιρω “Ἑλλάνικος Ὕσιριν ἔοικεν; ἄκη-
κοέναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερέων λεγόμενον" οὕτω yap
ὀνομάζων διατελεῖ τὸν θεόν, εἰκότως ἀπὸ τῆς

E ος καὶ τῆς εὑρέσεως

Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ὁ αὐτός ἐστι Διονύσῳ τίνα
μᾶλλον ἢ σὲ γιγνώσκειν, ὦ Κλέα, δὴ προσῆκόν
ἐστιν, ἀρχηίδα" μὲν οὖσαν ἐν Δελφοῖς τῶν Θυιάδων,
τοῖς δ᾽ ᾿Οσιριακοῖς καθωσιωµένην ἱεροῖς ἀπὸ
πατρὸς καὶ μητρός; εἰ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἕνεκα δεῖ
μαρτύρια παραθέσθαι, τὰ μὲν ἀπόρρητα κατὰ
χώραν ἐῶμεν, ἃ δ᾽ ἐμφανῶς δρῶσι θάπτοντες τὸν
Anw οἱ ἱερεῖς, ὅταν παρακοµίζωσιν ἐπὶ σχεδίας
τὸ σῶμα, βακχείας οὐδὲν ἀποδεῖ. καὶ γὰρ ve-
βρίδας περικαθάπτονται καὶ θύρσους φοροῦσι, καὶ
F βοαῖς χρῶνται καὶ κινήσεσιν ὥσπερ ot κάτοχοι
τοῖς περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον ὀργιασμοῖς. διὸ καὶ ταυρό-
μορφοῦ Διονύσου ποιοῦσιν ἀγάλματα πολλοὶ τῶν
“Ἑλλήνων: αἱ & ᾿Ηλείων γυναῖκες καὶ παρακαλοῦ-
σιν εὐχόμεναι ποδὶ βοείῳ᾽ τὸν θεὸν ἐλθεῖν πρὸς
αὐτάς. ᾿Αργείοις δὲ βουγενὴς Διόνυσος ἐπίκλην
ἐστίν: ἀνακαλοῦνται δ᾽ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ σαλπίγγων ef
ὕδατος, ἐμβάλλοντες εἷς τὴν ἄβυσσον ἄρνα τῷ
Πυλαόχῳ: τὰς δὲ σάλπιγγας ἐν θύρσοις ἀποκρύ-
πτουσιν, ὡς Σωκράτης ἐν τοῖς περὶ 'Ὁσίων εἴρηκεν.

1 ἔοικεν Valckenaer : : ἔθηκεν.

a φύσεως] ὕσεως Salmasius.
3 εὑρέσεως] ὑγρεύσεως Reiske; αἱρέσεως Strijd.
4 ἀρχηίδα Keramopoullos, based on inscriptions: ἀρχικλὰ.
5 ταυρόµορφα Markland: ταυρόμορφον.
€ Διονύσου Xylander: Διόνυσον.
7 βοείῳ] βοέῳ p. 299 a.

a See 366 £, infra.
è Cf. Diodorus, i. 11.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 364

to have heard Osiris pronounced Hysiris by the
priests, for he regularly spells the name in this way,
deriving it, in all probability, from the nature of
Osiris and the ceremony of finding him.¢

35. That Osiris is identical with Dionysus who could
more fittingly know than yourself, Clea ? For you are
at the head of the inspired maidens of Delphi, and
have been consecrated by your father and mother in
the holy rites of Osiris. If, however, for the benefit
of others it is needful to adduce proofs of this identity,
let us leave undisturbed what may not be told, but the
public ceremonies which the priests perform in the
burial of the Apis, when they convey his body on an
improvised bier, do not in any way come short of a
Bacchie procession ; for they fasten skins of fawns
about themselves, and carry Bacchic wands and
indulge in shoutings and movements exactly as do
those who are under the spell of the Dionysiac
ecstasies.” For the same reason many of the Greeks
make statues of Dionysus in the form of a bull €; and
the women of Elis invoke him, praying that the god
may come with the hoof of a bull?; and the epithet
applied to Dionysus among the Argives is “Son of the
Bull.” They call him up outof the water by the sound
of trumpets,’ at the same time casting into the depths
a lamb as an offering to the Keeper of the Gate. The
trumpets they conceal in Bacchic wands, as Socrates *
has stated in his treatise on Zhe Holy Ones. Further-

* A partial list in Roscher, Lexikon d. gr. u. rém. Mytho-
logie, 1. 1149.

4 Cf. Moralia, 299 a, where the invocation is given at
greater length; also Edmonds, Lyra Graeca, iii. p. 510
L.C. E.)

l * Cf. Moralia, 671 £.
t Miller, Frag. Hist. Graec. iv. p. 498, Socrates, no. δ.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

ὁμολογεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ Τιτανικὰ καὶ Νυκτέλια' τοῖς
λεγομένοις ᾿Οσίριδος διασπασμοῖς καὶ ταῖς dva-
365 βιώσεσι καὶ παλιγγενεσίαις: ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ
. ` ΄ Ἡ z t . ? +

περὶ τὰς ταφάς. Αἰγύπτιοί τε γὰρ ᾿Οσίριδος πολ-
λαχοῦ θήκας, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, δεικνύουσι, καὶ
Δελφοὶ τὰ τοῦ Διονύσου λείψανα παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς παρὰ
τὸ χρηστήριον ἀποκεῖσθαι νομίζουσι: καὶ θύουσιν
οἱ Ὅσιοι θυσίαν ἀπόρρητον ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τοῦ ᾿Απόλ-
λωνος, ὅταν αἱ Θυιάδες ἐγείρωσι τὸν Λικνίτην.
ὅτι δ᾽ οὐ μόνον τοῦ οἴνου Διόνυσον, ἀλλὰ καὶ

΄ e A ’ ο e ~ 2
πάσης ὑγρᾶς φύσεως Ἕλληνες ἡγοῦνται κύριον

- /
καὶ ἀρχηγόν, ἀρκεῖ Πίνδαρος µάρτυς εἶναι λέγων
δενδρέων δὲ νομὸν! Διόνυσος πολυγαθὴς
αὐξάνοι, ἁγνὸν φέγγος ὀπώρας.

Β διὸ καὶ τοῖς τὸν Ὄσιριν σεβομένοις ἀπαγορεύεται
να ιά 3 ΄ $ 4 τ’ >
δένδρον ἥμερον ἀπολλύναι καὶ πηγὴν ὕδατος ἐμ-

φράττειν.
86. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τὸν Νεῖλον, ἀλλὰ πᾶν ὑγρὸν
~ - A e ~
ἁπλῶς ᾿Οσίριδος ἀπορροὴν καλοῦσι καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν
ἀεὶ προπομπεύει τὸ ὑδρεῖον ἐπὶ τιμῇ τοῦ θεοῦ.
καὶ θρύῳ᾽ βασιλέα καὶ τὸ νότιον κλίμα τοῦ κόσμου
γράφουσι, καὶ μεθερμηνεύεται τὸ θρύον ποτισμὸς
καὶ κύησις" πάντων, καὶ δοκεῖ γεννητικῷ μορίῳ
1 Νυκτέλια Squire: νὺξ τελεία. f
2 γομὸν Heyne: νόμον (τρόπον in 757 r; γόμον Reiske;
2
γόνον Wyttenbach).

3 θρύῳ Wyttenbach: θρύων or θρίω.
4 κύησις Xylander: κίνησις.

a 358 a and 359 a, supra.

è That is, the inspired maidens, mentioned at the beginning
of the chapter.

ο Callimachus, Hymn to Demeter (vi.), 127; Anth. Pal.
vi. 165; Virgil, Georg. i, 166.
86

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 364-365

more, the tales regarding the Titans and the rites
celebrated by night agree with the accounts of the
dismemberment of Osiris and his revivification and
regenesis. Similar agreement is found too in the
tales about their sepulchres. The Egyptians, as has
already been stated,* point out tombs of Osiris in
many places, and the people of Delphi believe that
the remains of Dionysus rest with them close beside
the oracle; and the Holy Ones offer a secret sacrifice
in the shrine of Apollo whenever the devotees of
Dionysus ὃ wake the God of the Mystic Basket.* To
show that the Greeks regard Dionysus as the lord and
master not only of wine, but of the nature of every
sort of moisture, it is enough that Pindar? be our
witness, when he says

May gladsome Dionysus swell the fruit upon the trees,
The hallowed splendour of harvest-time.

For this reason all who reverence Osiris are prohibited
from destroying a cultivated tree or blocking up a
spring of water.

36. Not only the Nile, but every form of moisture 9
they call simply the effusion of Osiris; and in their
holy rites the water jar in honour of the god heads
the procession’ And by the picture of a rush they
represent a king and the southern region of the world,”
and the rush is interpreted to mean the watering and
fructifying of all things, and in its nature it seems to
bear some resemblance to the generative member.

4 Frag. 153 (Christ). Plutarch quotes the line also in
Moralia, 745 a and 757 F.
e Cf. 366 a, 371 B, infra, and 729 B.
-f Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, vi. 81. 1 (p. 758
Potter).
s Such a symbol exists on Egyptian monuments.
87

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(365) τὴν φύσιν ἐ ἐοικέναι. τὴν δὲ τῶν Παμυλίων ἑορτὴν
ἄγοντες, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, φαλλικὴν οὖσαν, ἄγαλμα
προτίθενται καὶ περιφέρουσιν, οὗ τὸ αἰδοῖον τρι-
πλάσιόν è ἐστιν" ἀρχὴ γὰρ ὁ θεός, ἀρχὴ δὲ πᾶσα τῷ
γονίμῳ πολλαπλασιάζει τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς" τὸ δὲ πολ-

C λάκις εἰώθαμεν καὶ τρὶς λέγειν, ὡς τὸ “ τρισ-
μάκαρες ” καὶ

δεσμοὶ μὲν τρὶς τόσσοι ἀπείρονες,

εὖ ' μὴ νὴ Δία κυρίως ἐμφαίνεται τὸ τριπλάσιον Ù ὑπὸ
τῶν παλαιῶν" ἡ γὰρ ὑγρὰ φύσις ἀρχὴ καὶ γένεσις
οὖσα πάντων ἐξ αὐτῆς' τὰ πρῶτα τρία σώματα, γῆν
ἀέρα καὶ πῦρ, ἐποίησε. καὶ γὰρ ὁ προστιθέμενος
τῷ μύθῳ λόγος, ὡς τοῦ ᾿Οσίριδος ὁ Τυφὼν τὸ
αἲδοῖον ἔρριψεν εἰς τὸν ποταμόν, ἡ δ᾽ Ἶσις οὐχ
εὗρεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐμφερὲς ἄγαλμα θἐμένη καὶ kata-
σκευάσασα τιμᾶν καὶ φαλλ ηφορεῖν ἔταξεν, ἐνταῦθα
δὴ περιχωρεῖ᾽ διδάσκων ὅτι τὸ γόνιμον καὶ τὸ
σπερματικὸν. τοῦ θεοῦ. πρῶτον" ἔσχεν ὕλην τὴν
ὑγρότητα καὶ δι᾽ ὑγρότητος ἐνεκράθη τοῖς πεφυκόσι
μετέχειν γενέσεως.

D "Άλλος δὲ λόγος ἔστιν Αἰγυπτίων, ὡς "Αποπις
Ἡλίου ὢ ὢν ἀδελφὸς ἐπολέμει. τῷ Διί, τὸν δ᾽ Ὄσιριν
6 Ζεὺς συμμαχήσαντα καὶ συγκαταστρεψάμενον
αὐτῷ τὸν πολέμιον παῖδα θέμενος Διόνυσον προσ-
ηγόρευσεν. καὶ τούτου δὲ τοῦ λόγου τὸ μυθῶδες
ἔστιν ἀποδεῖξαι τῆς περὶ φύσιν ἀληθείας ἁπτό-

* αὐτῆς Michael: ἀρχῆς.
3 δὴ περιχωρεῖ Madvig: δὲ παραχωρεῖ.
8 πρῶτον] πρώτην Reiske. 4 περὶ Xylander: παρὰ.

a 355 E, supra.
è Cf. 911 F, infra, Herodotus, ii. 48, and Hgyptian
monuments.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 365

Moreover, when they celebrate the festival of the
Pamylia which, as has been said,* is of a phallic
nature, they expose and carry about a statue of which
the male member is triple ® ; for the god is the Source,
and every source, by its fecundity, multiplies what
proceeds from it ; and for ‘‘ many times ” we have a
habit of saying “ thrice,” as, for example, “ thrice
happy,” 5 and

Bonds, even thrice as many, unnumbered,#

unless, indeed, the word “ triple ” is used by the early
writers in its strict meaning; for the nature of
moisture, being the source and origin of all things,
created out of itself three primal material substances,
Karth, Air, and Fire. In fact, the tale that is annexed
to the legend to the effect that Typhon cast the male
member of Osiris into the river, and Isis could not find
it, but constructed and shaped a replica of it, and
ordained that it should be honoured and borne in
processions,’ plainly comes round to this doctrine,
that the creative and germinal power of the god, at
the very first, acquired moisture as its substance, and
through moisture combined with whatever was by
nature capable of participating in generation.

There is another tale current among the Egyptians
that Apopis, brother of the Sun, made war upon
Zeus, and that because Osiris espoused Zeus’s cause
and helped him to overthrow his enemy, Zeus adopted
Osiris as his son and gave him the name of Dionysus.
It may be demonstrated that the legend contained in
this tale has some approximation to truth so far as

° Homer, Od. v. 306, and vi. 154. It is interesting that
G. H. Palmer translates this “ most happy.”

d Jbiđ. viii. 340.

* Cf. 358 B, supra.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

’ A A
µενον. Δία μὲν yàp Αἰγύπτιοι τὸ πνεῦμα καλοῦ-
ow, ᾧ πολέμιον τὸ αὐχμηρὸν καὶ πυρῶδες: τοῦτο

»
δ᾽ ἥλιος μὲν οὐκ ἔστι, πρὸς δ᾽ ἥλιον ἔχει τινὰ συγ-
’ τ > e , ΄ . e .
γένειαν: ἡ δ᾽ ὑγρότης σβεννύουσα τὴν ὑπερβολὴν
E τῆς ξηρότητος αὖξει καὶ ῥώννυσι τὰς ἀναθυμιάσεις,
ὑφ᾽ ὧν τὸ πνεῦμα τρέφεται καὶ τέθηλεν.
37. Ἔτι δὲ τὸν κιττὸν "Ἑλληνές τε καθιεροῦσι
- t . 2 > rf , εέ z
τῷ Διονύσῳ καὶ παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίοις λέγεται '' χενό-
σιρις”’ ὀνομάζεσθαι, σημαίνοντος τοῦ ὀνόματος,
σ x > ’ 3 ’ ’ ε
ὥς φασι, φυτὸν ᾿Ὀσίριδος. ᾿Αρίστων τοίνυν ὁ
γεγραφὼς ᾿Αθηναίων ἀποίκισω᾽ ἐπιστολῇ Twt
3 D a A
Αλεξάρχου περιέπεσεν, ἐν Ñ Διὸς' ἱστορεῖται καὶ
x ελ Ἂ τ / Ν «2 5 7 ΕΠΗ
Ίσιδος υἱὸς dv ὁ Διόνυσος ὑπ᾽ Αἰγυπτίων οὐκ
Ὄσιρις ἀλλ᾽ ᾿Αρσαφὴς (ἐν τῷ ἄλφα γράμματι)
F λέγεσθαι, δηλοῦντος τὸ ἀνδρεῖον τοῦ ὀνόματος.
ἐμφαίνει δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Ἑρμαῖος ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ περὶ
τῶν Αἰγυπτίων: ὄβριμον γάρ φησι μεθερμηνευό-
. - -
ενον εἶναι τὸν Ὄσιριν. ἐῶ δὲ Μνασέαν' τῷ
> / θέ . 7, ` . ”
Επάφῳ προστιθέντα τὸν Διόνυσον καὶ τὸν "Όσιριν
A . 7 3A 1. καὶ i LA T
καὶ τὸν Σάραπιν: ἐῶ καὶ ᾿Αντικλείδην λέγοντα, τὴν
Ἶσιν Προμηθέως οὖσαν θυγατέρα Διονύσῳ ov-
οικεῖν: αἱ γὰρ εἰρημέναι περὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς καὶ τὰς
θυσίας οἰκειότητες ἐναργεστέραν τῶν μαρτύρων
τὴν πίστιν ἔχουσι.
38. Τῶν τ᾽ ἄστρων τὸν σείριον loos” vopi-
366 ζουσιν, ὑδραγωγὸν ὄντα. καὶ τὸν λέοντα τιμῶσι
1 δὲ F.C.B.: τε.
3 κιττὸν Squire (κιττὸν οἱ 2}: κιττὸν ὃν.
3 ἀποίκισιν F.C.B.: ἀποικίαν.
4 περιέπεσεν, ἐν ᾗ Διὸς Valckenaer: περιπέσειε νηίδος.
5 καὶ Valckenaer: δὲ καὶ.

5 Μνασέαν Xylander: μνάσαν.
7 "σιδος] Ὀσίριδος Squire, but ef- 359 Ὁ as well as 372 υ.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 365-366

Nature is concerned ; for the Egyptians apply the
name '' Zeus” to the wind,? and whatever is dry or
fieryis antagonistic to this. This is not the Sun, but it E
has some kinship with the Sun ; and the moisture,
by doing away with the excess of dryness, increases
and strengthens the exhalations by which the wind is
fostered and made vigorous.

37. Moreover, the Greeks are wont to consecrate
the ivy? to Dionysus, and it is said that among the
Egyptians the name for ivy is chenosiris, the meaning
of the name being, as they say, “the plant of Osiris.”
Now, Ariston, the author of Athenian Colonization,
happened upon a letter of Alexarchus, in which it is
recorded that Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Isis,
and is called not Osiris, but Arsaphes, spelled with an
“ a,’ the name denoting virility. Hermaeus, too,
makes this statement in the first volume of his book

preted,*means “ sturdy.” I leave out of account
Mnaseas’s° annexation of Dionysus, Osiris, and Serapis
to Epaphus, as well as Anticleides’* statement that
Isis was the daughter of Prometheus’ and was wedded
to Dionysus.” The fact is that the peculiarities
already mentioned regarding the festival and sacri-
fices carry a conviction more manifest than any
testimony of authorities.

38. Of the stars the Egyptians think that the Dog-
star is the star of Isis because it is the bringer of
water.* They also hold the Lion in honour, and they

a Cf. Diodorus, i. 19. 9. 5 Diodorus, i. 17. 4.
5 Miller, Frag. Hist. Graec. iii. p. 324,
4 Ibid. iv. p. 427. 5 Thid. iii, p. 188,
t Cf. Jacoby, Frag. Gr. Hist. 140, πο. 13.
5 Cf. 352 a, supra. » Cf. Herodotus, ii. 156.
+ Cf. 359 D, supra, and 376 a, infra. k In the Nile.

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

s Ld ΄ ` - 1 - ”
(966) καὶ χάσμασι λεοντείοις τὰ τῶν ἱερῶν θυρώματα
' κοσμοῦσιν, ὅτι πλημμυρεῖ Νεῖλος

5 λέ ` - Z t
NE LOU τα πρωτα συνερχοµενοιο λέοντι.

Ὡς δὲ Νεῖλον ᾿Οσίριδος ἀπορροήν, οὕτως "Taos
σῶμα γῆν ἔχουσι; καὶ νομίζουσιν, οὐ πᾶσαν, ἀλλ᾽
ἧς ὁ Νεῖλος ἐπιβαίνει σπερµαίνων καὶ μειγνύμενος"
ἐκ δὲ τῆς συνουσίας ταύτης γεννῶσι τὸν ρον.
ἔστι δ᾽ Ὥρος ἡ πάντα σῴζουσα καὶ τρέφουσα τοῦ
περιέχοντος ὥρα καὶ κρᾶσις ἀέρος, ὃν ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσι
τοῖς περὶ Βοῦτον ὑπὸ Λητοῦς τραφῆναι λέγουσιν"

- ἢ γὰρ ὑδατώδης καὶ διάβροχος γῆ μάλιστα τὰς
B σβεννούσας καὶ χαλώσας τὴν ξηρότητα. καὶ τὸν
αὐχμὸν ἀναθυμιάσεις τιθηνεῖται.

Νέφθυν δὲ καλοῦσι τῆς γῆς τὰ ἔσχατα καὶ
παρόρεια" καὶ ψαύοντα τῆς θαλάττης: διὸ καὶ
Τελευτὴν! ἐπονομάζουσι τὴν Νέφθυν καὶ Γυφῶνι
δὲ συνοικεῖν λέγουσιν. ὅταν δ᾽ ὑπερβαλὼν καὶ
πλεονάσας 6 Νεῖλος ἐπέκεινα πλησιάσῃ τοῖς
ἐσχατεύουσι, τοῦτο μεῖξιν ᾿Ὀσίριδος πρὸς Νέφθυν

καλοῦσιν, ὑπὸ τῶν ἀναβλαστανόντων φυτῶν ἐλεγ-
χομένην- ὧν καὶ τὸ μελίλωτόν ἐστιν, οὗ φησι μῦθος
ἀπορρυέντος καὶ ἀπολειφθέντος αἴσθησιν γενέσθαι.
Τυφῶνι τῆς περὶ τὸν γάμον ἀδικίας. ὅθεν ἡ μὲν
0 Ἶσις ἔτεκε γνησίως τὸν Ὥρον, ἡ δὲ Νέφθυς σκότιον
τὸν "Ανουβιν. ἐν μέντοι ταῖς διαδοχαῖς τῶν βασι-

1 ἔχουσι] λέγουσι Wyttenbach.
3 παρόρεια Hatzidakis: παρόρια.
8 Γελευτὴν Squire (cf. 355 F): τελευταίη».
i η

a Cf. Moralia, 610 ας Ἡοταρο]]ο, Hieroglyphica, 1. 21.
ὃ Aratus, Phaenomena, 151. The Dog-siar rises at about
the same time.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 366

adorn the doorways of their shrines with gaping lions’
heads, because the Nile overflows

When for the first time the Sun comes into conjunction
with Leo.?

As they regard the Nile as the effusion of Osiris,¢ so
they hold and believe the earth to be the body of Isis,
not all of it, but so much of it as the Nile covers,
fertilizing it and uniting with it.4 From this union
they make Horus to be born. The all-conserving and
fostering Hora, that is the seasonable tempering of
the surrounding air, is Horus, who they say was
brought up by Leto in the marshes round about
Buto®; for the watery and saturated land best
nurtures those exhalations which quench and abate
aridity and dryness.

The outmost parts of the land beside the mountains
and bordering on the sea the Egyptians call Nephthys.
This is why they give to Nephthys the name of
“ Finality,” f and say that she is the wife of Typhon.
Whenever, then, the Nile overflows and with abound-
ing waters spreads far away to those who dwell in the
outermost regions, they call this the union of Osiris
with Nephthys,’ which is proved by the upspringing
of the plants. Among these is the melilotus,” by the
wilting and failing of which, as the story goes, Typhon
gained knowledge of the wrong done to his bed. So
Isis gave birth to Horus in lawful wedlock, but
Nephthys bore Anubis clandestinely. However, in
the chronological lists of the kings they record that

e Cf. the note on 365 π, supra.
4 Cf 363 D, supra, e Cf. 357 F, supra,
7 Cf. 355 F, supra, and 375 B, infra.
3 Cf. the note on 356 £, supra.
a Of. 356 F, supra.
93

(366)

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

λέων ἀναγράφουσι τὴν Νέφθυν Τυφῶνι γημαμένην
πρώτην γενέσθαι στεῖραν: εἰ δὲ τοῦτο μὴ περὶ
γυναικὸς ἀλλὰ περὶ τῆς θεοῦ λέγουσιν, αἰνίττονται
τὸ παντελῶς τῆς γῆς ἄγονον καὶ ἄκαρπον ὑπὸ
στερρότητος.

39. ‘H δὲ Τυφῶνος ἐπιβουλὴ καὶ τυραννὶς aùx-
μοῦ δύναμις ἦν ἐπικρατήσαντος καὶ διαφορήσαντος
τήν τε γεννῶσαν ὑγρότητα τὸν Νεῖλον καὶ αὔξουσαν.
ἡ δὲ συνεργὸς αὐτοῦ βασιλὶς Αἰθιόπων αἰνίττεται
πνοὰς νοτίους ἐξ Αἰθιοπίας: ὅταν γὰρ αὗται τῶν
ἐτησίων ἐπικρατήσωσι τὰ νέφη πρὸς τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν
ἐλαυνόντων, καὶ κωλύσωσι τοὺς τὸν Νεῖλον αὔξον-
τας ὄμβρους καταρραγῆναι, κατέχων ὁ Τυφὼν ἐπι-
φλέγει καὶ τότε κρατήσας παντάπασι τὸν Νεῖλον
εἰς ἐναντίον" ὑπ᾽ ἀσθενείας συσταλέντα καὶ ῥυέντα
κοῖλον καὶ ταπεινὸν ἐξέωσεν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν. ἡ
γὰρ λεγομένη κάθειρξις εἰς τὴν σορὸν ᾿Οσίριδος
οὐδὲν ἔοικεν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ κρύψιν ὕδατος καὶ ἀφανισμὸν
αἰνίττεσθαι: διὸ μηνὸς ᾿Αθὺρ ἀφανισθῆναι τὸν

” Ζ Y A ? 3 ,
σιρυ; λέγουσιν, ὅτε τῶν ἐτησίων ἀπολειπόντων

f e y N TÀ e - ~ δ᾽
παντάπασι; ὁ μὲν Νεῖλος ὑπονοστεῖ, γυμνοῦται
¢ τα
ἡ χώρα, μηκυνομένης δὲ τῆς νυκτός, αὔξεται τὸ
σκότος, ἡ δὲ τοῦ φωτὸς μαραίνεται καὶ κρατεῖται
- - $
δύναμις, οἱ 8” ἱερεῖς ἄλλα τε δρῶσι σκυθρωπὰ καὶ
~ F e ’ ΄ t x
βοῦν διάχρυσον ἱματίῳ μέλανι βυσσίνῳ περιβάλλον-
τες ἐπὶ πένθει τῆς θεοῦ δεικνύουσι (βοῦν γὰρ "ἴσιδος
1 παντελῶς] παντελὲς in al] mss, but one.

2 ἐναντίον] ἑαυτὸν Bentley.
8 of & Wyttenbach: οἱ.

a Cf. 356 B, supra.
è Cf. Moralia, 898 a, and Diodorus, i. 39.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 366

Nephthys, after her marriage to Typhon, was at first
barren. If they say this, not about a woman, but
about the goddess, they must mean by it the utter
barrenness and unproductivity of the earth resulting
from a hard-baked soil.

.89. The insidious scheming and usurpation of
Typhon, then, is the power of drought, which gains
control and dissipates the moisture which is the source
of the Nile and of its rising ; and his coadjutor, the
Queen of the Ethiopians,? signifies allegorically the
south winds from Ethiopia ; for whenever these gain
the upper hand over the northerly ος Etesian winds ὃ
which drive the clouds towards Ethiopia, and when
they prevent the falling of the rains which cause the
rising of the Nile, then Typhon, being in possession,
blazes with scorching heat ; and having gained com-
plete mastery, he forces the Nile in retreat to draw
back its waters for weakness, and, flowing at the
bottom of its almost empty channel, to proceed to the
sea. Thestory told of the shutting up of Osiris in the
chest seems to mean nothing else than the vanishing `
and disappearance of water. Consequently they say ©
that the disappearance of Osiris occurred in the month
of Athyr,° at the time when, owing to the complete
cessation of the Etesian winds, the Nile recedes to its
low levelandthe landbecomesdenuded. Asthenights
grow longer, the darkness increases, and the potency
of the light is abated and subdued. Then among the
gloomy rites which the priests perform, they shroud
the gilded image of a cow with a black linen vestment,
and display her as a sign of mourning for the goddess,
inasmuch as they regard both the cow and the earth 4

ο The month of November. Cf. 356 ο, supra.
4 Cf. 366 a supra.

367”

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

5, `“ a ’ 5} z e 7
εἰκόνα καὶ' γῆν νομίζουσιν) ἐπὶ τέτταρας ἡμέρας
ἀπὸ τῆς ἑβδόμης ἐπὶ δέκα ἑξῆς. καὶ γὰρ τὰ πενθού-
μενα τέτταρα, πρῶτον μὲν ὁ Νεῖλος ἀπολείπων καὶ
ὑπονοστῶν, δεύτερον δὲ τὰ βόρεια πνεύματα κατα-
σβεννύμενα κομιδῇ τῶν νοτίων ἐπικρατούντων,
τρύτον δὲ τὸ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐλάττονα γίγνεσθαι τῆς
νυκτός, ἐπὶ πᾶσι Ò? ἡ τῆς γῆς ἀπογύμνωσις ἅμα
τῇ τῶν φυτῶν ψιλότητι τηνικαῦτα φυλλορροούντων.
τῇ δ᾽ ἐνάτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα νυκτὸς ἐπὶ θάλατταν κατίασι."
καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν κίστην οὗ στολισταὶ καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς
ἐκφέρουσι χρυσοῦν ἐντὸς ἔχουσαν κιβώτιον, els ὃ
ποτίμου λαβόντες ὕδατος ἐγχέουσι, καὶ γίγνεται
κραυγὴ τῶν παρόντων ὡς εὑρημένου τοῦ ᾿Ὀσίριδος-
εἶτα γῆν' κάρπιμον φυρῶσι τῷ ὕδατι, καὶ συμμεί-
ἕαντες ἀρώματα καὶ θυμιάματα τῶν πολυτελῶν
ἀναπλάττουσι μηνοειδὲς ἀγαλμάτιον' καὶ τοῦτο
στολίζουσι καὶ κοσμοῦσι», ἐμφαίνοντες ὅτι γῆς
οὐσίαν καὶ ὕδατος τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους νομίζουσι.

40. Τῆς δ᾽ Ἴσιδος πάλιν ἀναλαμβανούσης τὸν
Όσιριν καὶ αὐξανούσης τὸν ρον, ἀναθυμιάσεσι
καὶ ὁμίχλαις καὶ νέφεσι ῥ ῥωννύμενον, ἐκρατήθη μέν,
οὐκ ἀνῃρέθη δ᾽ ὁ Τυφών. οὐ γὰρ εἴασεν ἡ ἡ κυρία
τῆς γῆς θεὸς ἀναιρεθῆναι παντάπασι τὴν ἀντικει-

t - ε T 2 > 5 > ΄ . 7 A
μένην τῇ ὑγρότητι φύσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐχάλασε καὶ ἀνῆκε

Ὀυλομένη διαμένειν τὴν κρᾶσινᾶ- οὗ γὰρ ἦν κόσμον"
εἶναι τέλειον ἐκλιπόντος: καὶ ἀφανισθέντος τοῦ
πυρώδους. εἰ δὲ ταῦτα μὴ ἐλέγετοξ παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς,

1 καὶ] κατὰ H. Richards; but cf. “ the earth”? both before
(ἡ ae and after (τῆς vis)!

* πᾶσι δ᾽ Bernardakis: πᾶσιν. ὃ κατίασι Baxter: κάτεισι.

4 γῆν} Xylander: τὴν. 5 κρᾶσιν Xylander: κρίσιν,

ὁ κόσμον] τὸν κόσμον Markland.

7 ἐκλιπόντος Markland: ἐκλείποντος.
96

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 366-367

as the image of Isis ; and this is kept up for four days
consecutively, beginning with the seventeenth of the
month. The things mourned for are four in number :
first, the departure and recession of the Nile ; second,
the complete extinction of the north winds, as the
south winds gain the upper hand; third, the day’s
growing shorter than the night ; and, to crown all,
the denudation of the earth together with the defolia-
tion of the trees and shrubs at this time. On the
nineteenth day they go down to the sea at night-
time ; and the keepers of the robes and the priests
bring forth the sacred chest containing a small golden
coffer, into which they pour some potable water
which they have taken up, and a great shout arises
from the company for joy that Osiris is found. Then
they knead some fertile soil with the water and mix
in spices and incense of a very costly sort, and fashion
therefrom a crescent-shaped figure, which they clothe
and adorn, thus indicating that they regard these
gods as the substance of Earth and Water.

40. When Isis recovered Osiris and was watching
Horus grow up @ as he was being made strong by the
exhalations and mists and clouds, Typhon was van-
quished but not annihilated >; for the goddess who
holds sway over the Earth would not permit the
complete annihilation of the nature opposed to moist-
ure, but relaxed and moderated it, being desirous
that its tempering potency should persist, because it
was not possible for a complete world to exist, if the
fiery element left it and disappeared. Even if this
story were not current among them, one would hardly

a Cf. 357 c-F, supra. > Cf. 358 D, supra.

8 ἐλέγετο F.C.B. (for a similar form of condition cf. Soph.
Ajas, 962): λέγεται. Ἢ
97

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PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(367) εἰκότως οὐδ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ἄν τις ἀπορρίψειε τὸν λόγον,
ὡς Τυφὼν μὲν ἐκράτει πάλαι τῆς ᾿Οσίριδος μοίρας”
θάλαττα γὰρ ἦν ἡ Αἴγυπτος: διὸ πολλὰ μὲν ἐν τοῖς

B μετάλλοις καὶ τοῖς ὄρεσιν εὑρίσκεται μέχρι νῦν
κογχύλια ἐ ἔχειν πᾶσαι ϑὲ πηγαὶ καὶ φρέατα πάντα
πολλῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἁλμυρὸν ὕδωρ καὶ πικρὸν
ἔχουσιν, ὡς ἂν ὑπολείμματος' τῆς πάλαι θαλάττης
ἑώλου" ἐνταυθοῖ συνερρυηκότος.

Ὁ δ Ώρος χρόνῳ τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἐπεκράτησε,
τουτέστιν εὐκαιρίας ὀμβρίων γενομένης, ὁ Νεῖλος
ἐξώσας᾽ τὴν θάλατταν ᾿ἀνέφηνε τὸ πεδίον καὶ
ἀνεπλήρωσε ταῖς προσχώσεσιν" ὃ δὴ μαρτυροῦσαν
ἔχει τὴν αἴσθησιν: ὁρῶμεν γὰρ ἔτι viv ἐπιφέροντι

C τῷ ποταμῷ νέαν ἰλὺν καὶ προάγοντι’ τὴν γῆν κατὰ
μικρὸν ὑποχωροῦν ὀπίσω τὸ πέλαγος, καὶ τὴν
θάλατταν ὕψος τῶν ἐν βάθει λαμβανόντων διὰ τὰς
προσχώσεις ἀπορρέουσαν" τὴν δὲ Φάρον, ἣν Ὅμηρος
δει δρόμον ἡ ἡμέρας ἀπέχουσαν Αἰγύπτου, νῦν μέρος
οὖσαν αὐτῆς, οὐκ αὐτὴν ἀναδραμοῦσαν οὐδὲ προσ-
αναβᾶσαν, ἀλλὰ τῆς μεταξὺ θαλάττης ἀναπλάττοντι
τῷ ποταμῷ καὶ τρέφοντι τὴν ἤπειρον ἀνασταλείσης.

Ἕλλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὅμοια τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν Στωικῶν
θεολογουμένοις é ἐστί" καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι τὸ μὲν γόνιμον
πνεῦμα καὶ τρόφιμον Διόνυσον εἶναι λέγουσι, τὸ
πληκτικὸν δὲ καὶ διαιρετικὸν “H ρακλέα, τὸ δὲ
δεκτικὸν "Αμμωνα, Δήμητρα» δὲ καὶ Κόρην τὸ διὰ

1 ὑπολείμματος F.C.B.: ὑπόλειμμα.
2 ἑώλου F.C.B.: ἕωλον.
3 ἐξώσας Wyttenbach: ἐξεώσας,
t προάγοντι Bernardakis: προσαγαγόντι or προαγαγόντι.
5 Δήμητρα Bernardakis: δήμητραν.

a Cf. Herodotus, ii. 5; Diodorus, iii. 3, and 1. 39. 11.
98 f

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 367

be justified in rejecting that other account, to the
effect that Typhon, many ages ago, held sway over
Osiris’s domain ; for Egypt used to be all a sea,* and,
for that reason, even to-day it is found to have shells
in its mines and mountains.® Moreover, all the
springs and wells, of which there are many, have a
saline and brackish water, as if some stale dregs of
the ancient sea had coilected there,

But, in time, Horus overpowered Typhon ; that is
to say, there came on a timely abundance of rain, and
the Nile forced out the sea and revealed the fertile
land, which it filled out with its alluvial deposits. This
has support in the testimony of our own observation ;
for we see, even to-day, as the river brings down new
silt and advances the land, that the deep waters
gradually recede and, as the bottom gains in height
by reason of the alluvial deposits, the water of the
sea runs off from these. We also note that Pharos,
which Homer € knew as distant a day’s sail from
Egypt, is now a part of it; not that the island has
extended its area by rising, or has come nearer to the
land, but the sea that separated them was obliged to
retire before the river, as the river reshaped the land
and made it to increase.

The fact is that all this is somewhat like the doc-
trines promulgated by the Stoics 4 about the gods ;
for they say that the creative and fostering spirit is
Dionysus, the truculent and destructive is Heracles,
the. receptive is Ammon, that which pervades the
Earth and its products is Demeter and the Daughter,

> Cf. Herodotus, ii. 19,

5 Od. iv. 356. Cf. also Strabo, xii. 2. 4 (p. 536), and
xvii. 1. 6 (p. 791).

4 Cf. von Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, ii.
1093 (p. 319).

(967)

Ξ:

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

- - - - - - 4 A
τῆς γῆς καὶ τῶν καρπῶν διῆκον, Ποσειδῶνα δὲ τὸ
διὰ τῆς θαλάττης. (41.) Οἱ δὲ τοῖσδε τοῖς φυσικοῖς
καὶ τῶν ἀπ᾽ ἀστρολογίας μαθηματικῶν" ἔνια per-
γνύντες Τυφῶνα μὲν οἴονται τὸν ἡλιακὸν κόσμον,

= $
Ὄσιριν δὲ τὸν σεληνιακὸν λέγεσθαι. τὴν μὲν γὰρ
σελήνην γόνιμον τὸ φῶς καὶ ὑγροποιὸν ἔχουσαν
εὐμενῆ καὶ γοναῖς ζῴων καὶ φυτῶν εἶναι βλα-
στήσεσι' τὸν δ᾽ ἥλιον ἀκράτῳ πυρὶ καὶ σκληρῷ
καταθάλπειν" τε καὶ καταυαίνειν τὰ φυόμενα καὶ
τεθηλότα, καὶ τὸ πολὺ μέρος τῆς γῆς παντάπασιν
ὑπὸ φλογμοῦ ποιεῖν ἀοίκητον καὶ κατακρατεῖν πολ-
a Loa 7 ` ` - x >03
αχοῦ καὶ τῆς σελήνης. διὸ τὸν Τυφῶνα Σὴθ dei
Αἰγύπτιοι καλοῦσιν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ καταδυναστεῦον ἢ
+ Ἀ - . [Ὁ νά . ε +
καταβιαζόμενον. καὶ τῷ μὲν ἡλίῳ τὸν ‘Hpaxdéa
μυθολογοῦσι; ἐνιδρυμένον συμπεριπολεῖν, τῇ δὲ
σελήνῃ τὸν "Ἑρμῆν. λόγου γὰρ ἔργοις ἔοικε καὶ
a 4g 7 Να 7 a ao ens -
τελείας" σοφίας τὰ τῆς σελήνης, τὰ δ᾽ ἡλίου πληγαῖς
ὑπὸ βίας καὶ ῥώμης περαινοµέναις. οἱ δὲ Στωικοὶ
τὸν μὲν ἥλιον ἐκ θαλάττης ἀνάπτεσθαι καὶ τρέφε-
σθαί φασι, τῇ δὲ σελήνῃ τὰ κρηναῖα καὶ λιμναῖα
νάματα γλυκεῖαν ἀναπέμπειν καὶ μαλακὴν dva-
θυμίασιν. -

49. Ἑβδόμῃ ἐπὶ δέκα τὴν ᾿Οσίριδος γενέσθαι
τελευτὴν Αἰγύπτιοι μυθολογοῦσιν, ἐν ᾗ μάλιστα
γίγνεται τελειουμένη" κατάδηλος ἡ πανσέληνος. διὸ

1 μαθηματικῶν] μαθημάτων Markland.
2 καὶ σκληρῷ θάλ Madvig: λ ήτα θάλ
και OK, ρῳ κατα! OANE Vig: KEK, ἠρωκοτα αλπειν.
3 dei del. Squire. 4 τελείας F.C.B.: περὶ. -

5 περαινοµέναις Baxter: περαινοµένης.
5 τελειουμένη Ε.0.Β.: μειουμένη Wyttenbach: πληρουμένη.

a Of, Cicero, De Natura Deorum, i. 15 (40), ii. 28 (71);
and Diogenes Laertius, vii. 147.
> Of. 658 B, infra. ο Cf. 871 B and 376 a, infra.

100

ISIS AND OSIRIS. 367

and that which pervades the Sea is Poseidon.*
(41.) But the Egyptians, by combining with these
physical explanations some of the scientific results
derived from astronomy, think that by Typhon is
meant the solar world, and by Osiris the lunar world ;
they reason that the moon, because it has a light that
is generative and productive of moisture,” is kindly
towards the young of animals and the burgeoning
plants, whereas the sun, by its untempered and piti-
less heat, makes all growing and flourishing vegeta-
tion hot and parched, and, through its blazing light,
renders a large part of the earth uninhabitable, and
in many a region overpowers the moon. For this
reason the Egyptians regularly call Typhon '' Seth,” 5
which, being interpreted, means “ overmastering and
compelling.” They have a legend that Heracles,
making his dwelling in the sun, is a companion for it
in its revolutions, as is the case also with Hermes and
the moon. In fact, the actions of the moon are like
actions of reason and perfect wisdom, whereas those
of the sun are like beatings administered through
violence and brute strength. The Stoics ἆ assert that
the sun is kindled and fed from the sea, but that for
the moon the moving waters from the springs and
lakes send up a sweet and mild exhalation.

42. The Egyptians have a legend that the end of
Osiris’s life came on the seventeenth of the month, on
which day it is quite evident to the eye that the
period of the full moon is over. Because of this the

a Von Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, ii. 668.
Cf. also Diogenes Laertius, vii. 145; and Porphyry, De Antra

ympharum, 11.

¢ Fourteen days, or one half of a lunar month, before the
ἔνη καὶ νέα, if the lunar month could ever be made to square
with any system of chronology !

101

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

F καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην ἀντίφραξιν οἳ Πυθαγόρειοι
καλοῦσι, καὶ ὅλως τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦτον ἀφοσιοῦνται.
τοῦ γὰρ ἑκκαίδεκα τετραγώνου καὶ τοῦ ὀκτωκαί-
δεκα ἑτερομήκους, ots μόνοις ἀριθμῶν ἐπιπέδων
συμβέβηκε τὰς περιμέτρους ἴσας ἔχειν τοῖς mept-
εχοµένοις ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν χωρίοις, μέσος ὁ τῶν ἑπτακαί-
δεκα παρεμπίπτων ἀντιφράττει καὶ διαζεύγνυσιν
ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων, καὶ διαιρεῖ τὸν’ ἐπόγδοον λόγον εἰς
ἄνισα διαστήματα τεμνόμενος.

᾿Ἐτῶν δ᾽ ἀριθμὸν οἱ μὲν βιῶσαι τὸν Ὄσιριν οἱ δὲ
368 βασιλεῦσαι λέγουσιν ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσι’ τοσαῦτα γὰρ
ἔστι φῶτα τῆς σελήνης καὶ τοσαύταις ἡμέραις τὸν
αὑτῆς κύκλον ἐξελίττει. τὸ δὲ ξύλον ἐν ταῖς λεγο-
μέναις Ὀσίριδος ταφαῖς τέμνοντες κατασκευάζουσι:
λάρνακα μηνοειδῆ διὰ τὸ τὴν σελήνην, ὅταν τῷ
ἡλίῳ πλησιάζῃ, μηνοειδῆ γιγνομένην ἀποκρύπτε-
σθαι. τὸν δ᾽ εἰς δεκατέτταρα μέρη τοῦ Ὀσίριδος
διασπασμὸν αἰνίττονται πρὸς τὰς ἡμέρας ἐν ais
φθίνει μετὰ πανσέληνον ἄχρι νουμηνίας τὸ ἄστρον.

Β ἡμέραν δὲ ἐν ᾗ φαίνεται πρῶτον ἐκφυγοῦσα τὰς
αὐγὰς καὶ παρελθοῦσα τὸν ἥλιον ' ἀτελὲς ἀγαθόν ”
προσαγορεύουσιν. ὁ γὰρ σιρις ἀγαθοποιός, καὶ
τοὔνομα πολλὰ φράζει, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ κράτος
ἐνεργοῦν καὶ ἀγαθοποιὸν ὃ λέγουσι. τὸ δ᾽ ἕτερον
ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν "Oppo" εὐεργέτην ὁ “Eppatás
φησι δηλοῦν ἑρμηνευόμενον.

43. Ὀἴονται δὲ πρὸς τὰ φῶτα τῆς σελήνης č ἔχειν
τινὰ λόγον τοῦ Νείλου τὰς ἀναβάσεις. ἡ μὲν γὰρ

1 διαιρεῖ] διατηρεῖ Xylander.
2 a κατὰ τὸν Wyttenbach.
v} ΄Όνουφιν ὃ Parthey.

102

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 367-368

Pythagoreans call this day “ the Barrier,” and utterly
abominate this number. For the number seventeen,
coming in between the square sixteen and the oblong
rectangle eighteen, which, as it happens, are the only
plane figures that have their perimeters equal to their
areas,* bars them off from each other and disjoins
them, and breaks up the ratio of eight to eight and an
eighth ? by its division into unequal intervals.

Some say that the years of Osiris’s life, others that
the years of his reign, were twenty-eight ος for that is
the number of the moon’s illuminations, and in that
number of days does she complete her cycle. The
wood which they cut on the occasions called the |
“ burials of Osiris” they fashion into a crescent-shaped
coffer because of the fact that the moon, when it
comes near the sun, becomes crescent-shaped and
disappears from our sight. The dismemberment of
Osiris into fourteen parts they refer allegorically to
the days of the waning of that satellite from the time
of the full moon to the new moon. And the day on
which she becomes visible after escaping the solar rays
and passing by the sun they style “ Incomplete Good”;
for Osiris is beneficent, and his name means many
things, but, not least of all, an active and beneficent
power, as they put it. The other name of the god,
Omphis, Hermaeus says means “ benefactor ” when
interpreted.

43. They think that the risings of the Nile have
some relation to the illuminations of the moon ; for

α That is: 4x4=16 and 4+4+4+4=16: so also
3x6=18 and 3+6+3+6=18.
> That is, 4 of a number added to itself: thus 16+ 48 =18.
Eighteen, therefore, bears the epogdoon relation to sixteen,
which is broken up by the intervention of seventeen, an
odd number. 5 Of. 358 a, supra.
103

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(368) μεγίστη περὶ τὴν ᾿Ελεφαντίνην ὀκτὼ γίγνεται καὶ

a - /
εἴκοσι πήχεων, ὅσα φῶτα καὶ μέτρα των ἐμμήνων

περιόδων ἑκάστης ἔστιν: ἡ δὲ περὶ Μένδητα καὶ
Ξόιν βραχυτάτη πήχεων Č πρὸς τὴν διχότομον' ἡ
δὲ μέση περὶ Μέμφιν, ὅταν ἢ δικαία, δεκατεσσάρων
πήχεων πρὸς τὴν πανσέληνον.

Τὸν δ᾽ "Amu? εἰκόνα μὲν ᾿Ὀσίριδος ἔμψυχον
εἶναι, γενέσθαι δὲ ὅταν φῶς ἐρείσῃ γόνιμον ἀπὸ τῆς
σελήνης καὶ καθάψηται βοὸς ὀργώσης. διὸ καὶ τοῖς
τῆς σελήνης σχήμασιν ἔοικε πολλὰ τοῦ "Απιδος,
περιµελαινομένου τὰ λαμπρὰ τοῖς σκιεροῖς. ἔτι δὲ"
τῇ νουμηνίᾳ τοῦ Φαμενὼθ μηνὸς ἑορτὴν ἄγουσιν,
ἔμβασιν ᾿Οσίριδος εἰς τὴν σελήνην ὀνομάζοντες,
ἔαρος ἀρχὴν οὖσαν. οὕτω τὴν ᾿Ὀσίριδος δύναμιν
ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ τιθέντες" τὴν Ἶσιν αὐτῷ γένεσιν οὖσαν
συνεῖναι λέγουσι. διὸ καὶ μητέρα τὴν σελήνην τοῦ
κόσμου καλοῦσι καὶ φύσιν ἔχειν ἀρσενόθηλυν οἴονται
πληρουμένην ὑφ᾽ "Ηλίου καὶ κυϊσκομένην, αὐτὴν δὲ
πάλιν εἰς τὸν ἀέρα προϊεμένην γεννητικὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ
κατασπείρουσαν: οὐ γὰρ ἀεὶ τὴν φθορὰν ἐπικρατεῖν
τὴν τυφώνειον, πολλάκις δὲ κρατουμένην ὑπὸ τῆς
γενέσεως καὶ συνδεοµένην αὖθις ἀναλύεσθαι καὶ
διαμάχεσθαι πρὸς τὸν Ὥρον. ἔστι δ᾽ οὗτος ὁ mepi-
γειος κόσμος οὔτε φθορᾶς ἀπαλλαττόμενος παντά-
πασιν οὔτε γενέσεως.

1 εξ] ἑπτὰ Squire. 2 ,Απιν] Baxter would add φασιν.
3 ἔτι δὲ Baxter: ὅτι. 4 τιθέντες Petavius: τίθενται.
5 ἀναλύεσθαι Wytienbach: ἀναδύεσθαι.

a Besides the famous ancient Nilometer. at Elephantiné,
others have been found at Philae, Edfu, and Esna.

> Cf..359 B and 362 ο, supra.

ο Cf. Moralia, 718 », and Aelian, De Natura Animalium,
xi. ΤΟ,
104

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 368

the greatest rising,* in the neighbourhood of Elephan-
tiné, is twenty-eight cubits, which is the number of its
illuminations that form the measure of each of its
monthly cycles ; the rising in the neighbourhood of
Mendes and Xois, which is the least, is six cubits,
corresponding to the first quarter. The mean rising,
in the neighbourhood of Memphis, when it is normal,
is fourteen cubits, corresponding to the full moon,

The Apis, they say, is the animate image of Osiris,>
and he comes into being when a fructifying light
thrusts forth from the moon and falls upon a cow in her
breeding-season,* Wherefore there are many things
in the Apis that resemble features of the moon, his
bright parts being darkened by the shadowy. More-
over, at the time of the new moon in the month of
Phamenoth they celebrate a festival to which they
give the name of “ Osiris’s coming to the Moon,” and
this marks the beginning of the spring. Thus they
make the power of Osiris to be fixed in the Moon, and
say that Isis, since she is generation, is associated
with him. For this reason they also call the Moon the
mother of the world, and they think that she has a
nature both male and female, as she is receptive and
made pregnant by the Sun, but she herself in turn emits
and disseminates into the air generative principles.
For, as they believe, the destructive activity of
Typhon does not always prevail, but oftentimes is
overpowered by such generation and put in bonds, and
then at a later time is again released and contends
against Horus,? who is the terrestrial universe ; and
this is never completely exempt either from dis-
solution or from generation.

4 Cf. 358 d, supra,

105

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(368) 44. Ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐκλειπτικῶν αἴνιγμα ποι-
οὔνται τὸν μῦθον. ἐκλείϑει μὲν γὰρ ἡ σελήνη mav-
- $ 4
σέληνος ἐναντίαν τοῦ ἡλίου στάσιν ἔχοντος πρὸς !
$ Ν - “~ a
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ἑτέρων ζῴων.

ων σαν

1 τούτων Bentley: τούτῳ.
3 ἔστι Reiske: ἔτι.
a Cf. 356 E, supra, δ Cf. 375 £, infra.
ο Plutarch would connect κύων, “ dog,” with the participle
of κυῶ, “ be pregnant.” If the animal were a bear, we might
say, “ bears all things . . . the appellation of Bear,” which
would be a very close parallel.

106

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 368

44. There are some who would make the legend an
allegorical reference to matters touching eclipses ; for
the Moon suffers eclipse only when she is full, with
the Sun directly opposite to her, and she falls into the
shadow of the Earth, as they say Osiris fell into his
coffin. Then again, the Moon herself obscures the
Sun and causes solar eclipses, always on the thirtieth
of the month; however, she does not completely
annihilate the Sun, and likewise Isis did not annihilate
Typhon.

When Nephthys gave birth to Anubis, Isis treated
the child as if it were her own; for Nephthys is
that which is beneath the Earth and invisible, Isis
that which is above the earth and visible ; and the
circle which touches these, called the horizon, being
common to both,® has received the name Anubis, and
is represented in form like a dog ; for the dog can see
with his eyes both by night and by day alike. And
among the Egyptians Anubis is thought to possess
this faculty, which is similar to that which Hecaté is
thought to possess among the Greeks, for Anubis is a
deity of the lower world as well as a god of Olympus.
Some are of the opinion that Anubis is Cronus. For
this reason, inasmuch as he generates all things out
of himself and conceives all things within himself, he
has gained the appellation of “ Dog.”* There is,
therefore, a certain mystery observed by those who
revere Anubis; in ancient times the dog obtained the
highest honours in Egypt ; but, when Cambyses @ had
slain the Apis and cast him forth, nothing came near
the body or ate of it save only the dog ; and thereby
the dog lost his primacy and his place of honour above
that of all the other animals.

ἆ Cf. the note on 355 c, supra.
107

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

ἔα] ~ .
Εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἱ τὸ σκίασµα τῆς γῆς, εἰς ὃ τὴν
+ 3 7. 3 ’ la a.
σελήνην ὀλισθάνουσαν ἐκλείπειν νομίζουσι, Τυφῶνα
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- ~ 4 7 > ~
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> ` , 3 N - e c + .
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οὔτε γὰρ ἐν ἀψύχοις σώμασι τὰς τοῦ παντὸς ἀρχὰς
θετέον, ὡς Δημόκριτος καὶ Επίκουρος, οὔτ᾽ ἀποίου"
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2 βετέον F.C.B. (ἔστιν εἰπεῖν Bernardakis; νοµιστέον Strijd).
ἐστιν. 3 ἀποίου Meziriacus: ἄποιον οὗ,
4 ὅπου Meziriacus: ὁμοῦ.
ὅ ὅκωσπερ Wyttenbach: ὅπωσπερ.
8 περιφερομένη Holwerda: περιφερομένην.

μμ LL e

3 Cf, 373 Ἐν infra.
t OF. 364 a, supra, and 376 r, infra.

108

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 368-369

There are some who give the name of Typhon to the
Earth’s shadow, into which they believe the moon
slips when it suffers eclipse.” (45.) Hence it is not
unreasonable to say that the statement of each person
individually is not right, but that the statement of all
collectively is right ; for it is not drought nor wind nor
sea nor darkness,® but everything harmful and de-
structive that Nature contains, which is to be set down
as a part of Typhon. The origins of the universe are
not to be placed in inanimate bodies, according to
the doctrine of Democritus and Epicurus, nor yet is
the Artificer of undifferentiated matter, according to
the Stoic doctrine,* one Reason, and one Providence
which gains the upper hand and prevails over all
things. The fact is that it is impossible for anything
bad whatsoever to be engendered where God is the
Author of all, or anything good where God is the
Author of nothing ; for the concord of the universe,
like that of a lyre or bow, according to Heracleitus,?
is resilient if disturbed ; and according to Euripides,’

The good and bad cannot be kept apart,
But there is some commingling, which is well.

Wherefore this very ancient opinion comes down
from writers on religion and from lawgivers to poets
and philosophers ; it can be traced to no source, but
it carried a strong and almost indelible conviction, and
is in circulation in many places among barbarians and
Greeks alike, not only in story and tradition but also

e Cf. von Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, ii. p.
1108, and Diogenes Laertius, vii. 134.
4 Cf. Diels, Frag. der Vorsokratiker, i. p. 87, πο. B δ].
Plutarch quotes this again in Moralia, 473 τ and 1026 η.
e Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag., Euripides, no. 21, from the
Aeolus ; quoted again in Moralia, 25 ο and 474 a.
109

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

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οὗτος καὶ μετὰ σελήνης! ἀνώμαλος καὶ ποικίλος
γέγονε καὶ μεταβολὰς πάσας δεχόμενος. εἰ γὰρ
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ἀρχὴν ὥσπερ ἀγαθοῦ καὶ κακοῦ τὴν φύσιν ἔχειν.
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1 σελήνης F.C.B.: σελήνην.

2 μὲν Markland: μὲν γὰρ.
3 Ζωροάστρης from Life of Numa, ch. iv.: ζωρόαστρις.

α The language is reminiscent of a fragment of Sophocles
quoted by Plutarch in Moralia, 767 £, and Life of Alexander,
chap. vii. (668 B). Cf. Nauck, Trag. Graec. Frag., Sophocles,

110

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 369

in rites and sacrifices, to the effect that the Universe
is not of itself suspended aloft without sense or reason
-or guidance, nor is there one Reason which rules and
guides it by rudders, as it were, or by controlling
reins,* but, inasmuch as Nature brings, in this life of
ours, many experiences in which both evil and good
are commingled, or better, to put it very simply,
Nature brings nothing which is not combined with
something else, we may assert that it is not one
keeper of two great vases ® who, after the manner of
a barmaid, deals out to us our failures and successes
in mixture, but it has come about, as the result of two
opposed principles and two antagonistic forces, one of
which guides us along a straight course to the right,
while the other turns us aside and backward, that
our life is complex, and so also is the universe ; and
if this is not true of the whole of it, yet it is true that
this terrestrial universe, including its moon as well, is
irregular and variable and subject to all manner of
_ changes. For if it is the law of Nature that nothing
comes into being without a cause, and if the good
cannot provide a cause for evil, then it follows that
Nature must have in herself the source and origin of
evil, just as she contains the source and origin of good.

46. The great majority and the wisest of men hold
this opinion : they believe that there are two gods,
rivals as it were, the one the Artificer of good and the
other of evil. There are also those who call the better
one a god and the other a daemon, as, for example,

πο. 785. “A task for many reins and rudders too ” (πολλῶν
Χαλινῶν ἔργον οἰάκων θ᾽ ἅμα).

> The reference is to Homer, Jl. xxiv. 527-528, as mis-
quoted in Plato, Republic, 379 o. Cf. also Moralia, 24 a
(and the note), 105 c (and the note), and 4738. Moralia,
600 c, is helpful in understanding the present passage.

111

370

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

΄ + ~ ~
μάγος, ὃν πεντακισχιλίοις ἔτεσι τῶν Τρωικῶν ye-
A >
γονέναι πρεσβύτερον ἱστοροῦσιν. οὗτος οὖν ἐκάλει
hi s, ε Z 4 3 >? / .
τὸν μὲν Ὡρομάζην, τὸν δ᾽ ᾿Αρειμάνιον' καὶ mpoo-
απεφαίνετο τὸν μὲν ἐοικέναι φωτὶ μάλιστα τῶν
αἰσθητῶν, τὸν δ᾽ ἔμπαλιν σκότῳ καὶ ἀγνοίᾳ, μέσον
δ᾽ ἀμφοῖν τὸν Μίθρην εἶναι: διὸ καὶ Μίθρην Πέρσαι
` Ἂ , > 2 ».- 19 a `
τὸν Μεσίτην ὀνομάζουσιν. ἐδίδαξε δὲ’ τῷ μὲν
εὐκταῖα θύειν καὶ χαριστήρια, τῷ δ᾽ ἀποτρόπαια
καὶ σκυθρωπά. πόαν γάρ Twa κόπτοντες ὅμωμι
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καλουμένην ἐν ὄλμῳ τὸν "Αιδην ἀνακαλοῦνται καὶ
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εἷς τόπον ἀνήλιον ἐκφέρουσι καὶ ῥίπτουσι. καὶ γὰρ
τῶν φυτῶν νομίζουσι τὰ μὲν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θεοῦ, τὰ
δὲ τοῦ κακοῦ δαίμονος εἶναι: καὶ τῶν ζῴων ὥσπερ
κύνας καὶ ὄρνιθας καὶ χερσαίους ἐχίνους τοῦ aya-
θοῦ, τοῦ δὲ φαύλου μῦς᾽ ἐνύδρους εἶναι διὸ καὶ
τὸν κτείναντα. πλείστους εὐδαιμονίζουσιν.
» A > - .
ΑἹ. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ' κἀκεῖνοι πολλὰ μυθώδη περὶ
τῶν θεῶν λέγουσιν, οἷα καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐστίν. ὁ μὲν
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τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν τὸν μὲν σοφίας, τὸν δὲ πλούτου,
1 ἀγνοίᾳ] ὀρφναίᾳ (9). 2 δὲ added by Meziriacus.
3 μῦς Squire from 670 D: τοὺς.
μῦς Sq

4 ἀλλὰ added by Reiske.
5 φάους] φωτός Hatzidakis.

6 The casual reader will gain a better understanding of
chapters 46 and 47 if he will consult some brief book or
article on Zoroaster (Zarathustra) and the Persian religion.

» That is, one of the Persian Magi or Wise Men.

112

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 369-370

Zoroaster? the sage,” who, they record, lived: five
thousand years before the time of the Trojan War. He
called the one Oromazes and the other Areimanius ο:
and he further declared that among all the things per-
ceptible to the senses, Oromazes may best be compared
to light, and Areimanius, conversely, to darkness and
ignorance, and midway between the two is Mithras ;
for this reason the Persians give to Mithras the name

_of “ Mediator.” Zoroaster has also taught that men
should make votive offerings and thank-offerings to
Oromazes, and averting and mourning offerings to
Areimanius. They pound up in a mortar a certain
plant called omomi, at the same time invoking Hades?
and Darkness ; then they mix it with the blood of a
wolf that has been sacrificed, and carry it out and
east it into a place where the sun never shines. In
fact, they believe that some of the plants belong to
the good god and others to the evil daemon ; so also
of the animals they think that dogs, fowls, and hedge-
hogs, for example, belong to the good god, but that
water-rats 5 belong to the evil one; therefore the
man who has killed the most of these they hold to
be fortunate.

47, However, they also tell many fabulous stories
about their gods, such, for example, as the following :
Oromazes, born from the purest light, and Areimanius,
born from the darkness, are constantly at war with
each other ; and Oromazes created six gods, the first
of Good Thought, the second of Truth, the third of
Order, and, of the rest, one of Wisdom, one of Wealth,

* Cf. Moralia, 1026 8,.and Diogenes Laertius, Pro-
logue, 2.

4 Cf. Diogenes Laertius, Prologue, 8.

* Cf. Moralia, 537 a and 670 υ.

͵ 113

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(870) τὸν δὲ τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς καλοῖς ἡδέων δημιουργόν" ὁ

[4
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᾿Αρειμάνιον λοιμὸν ἐπάγοντα καὶ λιμὸν ὑπὸ τούτων
ἀνάγκη φθαρῆναι παντάπασι καὶ ἀφανισθῆναι, τῆς
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1 εἰσέδυσαν (suggested partly by Böttcher) F.C.B. : γανωθὲν.
3 ἀπολείπεσθαι] ἀπολεῖσθαι Markland.
3 κἄλλως F.C,B.: καλῶς.

4 ὅσονπερ F.C.B.: ὥσπερ.

a Jt is plain that the two sets of gods became intermingled,
but whether the bad gods got in or the good gods got out
is not clear from the text.

114

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 370

and one the Artificer of Pleasure in what is Honour-
able. But Areimanius created rivals, as it were, equal
to these in number. Then Oromazes enlarged him-
self to thrice his former size, and removed himself as
far distant from the Sun as the Sun is distant from
the Earth, and adorned the heavens with stars. One
star he set there before all others as a guardian and
watchman, the Dog-star. Twenty-four other gods
he created and placed in an egg. But those created
by Areimanius, who were equal in number to the

- others, pierced through the egg and made their way
inside *; hence evils are now combined with good.
But a destined time shall come when it is decreed that
Areimanius, engaged in bringing on pestilence and
.famine, shall by these be utterly annihilated and shall
disappear ; and then shall the earth become a level
plain, and there shall be one manner of life and one
form of government for a blessed people who shall all -
speak one tongue. Theopompus? says that, according
to the sages, one god is to overpower, and the other
to be overpowered, each in turn for the space of three
thousand years, and afterward for another three
thousand years they shall fight and war, and the one
shall undo the works of the other, and finally Hades
shall pass away ; then shall the people be happy, and
neither shall they need to have food nor shall they
cast any shadow. And the god, who has contrived to
bring about all these things, shall then have quiet and
shall repose for a time, no long time indeed, but for
the god as much as would be a moderate time for a
man to sleep.

δ Jacoby, Frag. Gr. Hist., Theopompus, no. 65.
5 The meaning of the text is clear enough, but the wording
of it is uncertain.
115

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA ©

(910) ‘H μὲν οὖν μάγων μυθολογία τοιοῦτον ἔχει τρό-
πον. (48) Χαλδαῖοι δὲ τῶν πλανήτων οὓς θεοὺς
γενεθλίους᾽ καλοῦσι, δύο μὲν ἀγαθουργούς, δύο δὲ

r hi ~ È
κακοποιούς, µέσους δὲ τοὺς τρεῖς ἀποφαίνουσι καὶ
z 4 3 e [4 aft m x .

κοινούς. τὰ δ᾽ Ἑλλήνων πᾶσί που δῆλα, τὴν μὲν
3 4 . 3 A i 4 a). / i
ἀγαθὴν Διὸς ᾿Ολυμπίου μερίδα, τὴν δ᾽ ἀποτρόπαιον
"A ὃ 1 > 33 , . "A

Sov ποιουμένων, ἐκ δ᾽ ᾿Αφροδίτης καὶ “Apeos
ς / Η id ΄ 4 Ῥ t `

D ‘Appoviav γεγονέναι μυθολογούντων' ὧν ὁ pev

3 y . λ 2. e δὲ a A «βλ
ἀπηνὴς καὶ φιλόνεικος, ἡ δὲ μειλίχιος καὶ γενέθλιος.

Σκόπει δὲ τοὺς φιλοσόφους τούτοις συμφερο-
μένους. “Ἡράκλειτος μὲν γὰρ ἄντικρυς πόλεμον
5 ΄ «ες 7 ` t ` ΄ ld 2»
ὀνομάζει '' πατέρα καὶ βασιλέα καὶ κύριον πάντων,
καὶ τὸν μὲν Ὅμηρον εὐχόμενον

ἔκ τε θεῶν ἔριν ἔκ τ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἀπολέσθαι

2 2 ~ 2 2 A
λανθάνειν, φησί, τῇ πάντων γενέσει καταρώμενον,
ἐκ μάχης καὶ ἀντιπαθείας τὴν γένεσιν ἐχόντων,
ἥλιον δὲ μὴ ὑπερβήσεσθαι τοὺς προσήκοντας ὅρους"
εἰ δὲ μή, γοργῶπάς" μιν Δίκης ἐπικούρους ἐξ-
ευρήσειν.

E Ἐμπεδοκλῆς δὲ τὴν μὲν ἀγαθουργὸν ἀρχὴν
ee + a”? A «et ’ 3» A > e r
φιλότητα ” καὶ “ φιλίαν,’ πολλάκις δ᾽ ἁρμονίαν
1 οὓς Wyttenbach: τοὺς.
3 γενεθλίους Wyttenbach: γενέσθαι οὓς,
νο x |
3 ἀποτρόπαιον Markland: ἀποτροπαίου.

4 μυθολογούντων Bernardakis: μυθολογοῦνται.
5 γοργῶπάς F.C.B. (= Ἐρινύες 604 a): γλώττας.

——.

a The translation is based on an emendation of Wytten-
bach’s, which makes the words refer to Chaldean astrology

116

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 370

Such, then, is the character of the mythology of
the sages. (48.) The Chaldeans declare that of the
planets, which they call tutelary gods, two are
beneficent, two maleficent, and the other three are
median and partake of both qualities. The beliefs
of the Greeks are well known to all; they make
the good part to belong to Olympian Zeus and the
abominated part to Hades, and they rehearse a
legend that Concord is sprung from Aphrodité and
Ares,® the one of whom is harsh and contentious,
and the other mild and tutelary.

Observe also that the philosophers are in agree-
ment with these ; for Heracleitus 5 without reserva-
tion styles War “the Father and King and Lord of
All,” and he says that when Homer? prays that

Strife may vanish away from the ranks of the gods and of
mortals,

he fails to note that he is invoking a curse on the
origin of all things, since all things originate from
strife and antagonism; also Heracleitus says that
the Sun will not transgress his appropriate bounds,
otherwise the stern-eyed maidens, ministers of
Justice, will find him out.¢

Empedocles/ calls the beneficent principle “ friend-
ship ” or “ friendliness,” and oftentimes he calls Con-

(i.e. the planet under which one is born). Cf. Sextus Empiri-
cus, Adversus Mathematicos, v. 29,

> That is, from Love and War.

e Diels, Frag. der Vorsokratiker, i, p. 88, no. B 53.

@ Jl. xviii. 107, but Plutarch modifies the line to suit his
context.

.° Cf. Moralia, 604.4; Origen, Against Celsus, vi. 42;
Diels, Frag. der Vorsokratiker, i. p. 96, no. B 94.

’ Ibid. p. 232, Empedocles, πο. 18; p. 239, πο. 17, 1. 19;
and p. 269, πο. 122 (= Moralia, 474 8).

117

”

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

αἰ - 31... ` 7 vs a 37
καλεῖ “ θεμερῶπιν,' τὴν δὲ χείρονα “ νεῖκος οὐλό-
- +
µενον ” καὶ “ δῆριν alparóeosav.”
ε . . A + > 7
Οξ μὲν Πυθαγορικοὶ διὰ πλειόνων ὀνομάτων
κατηγοροῦσι τοῦ μὲν ἀγαθοῦ τὸ ἓν τὸ πεπερα-
σμένον τὸ μένον τὸ εὐθὺ τὸ περιττὸν τὸ τετράγωνον
A 3 . ὃ AJ A λ F ~ δὲ ~ .
το LOOV TO εξιὸν το αμπρον, του € κακου την
δυάδα τὸ ἄπειρον τὸ φερόμενον τὸ καμπύλον τὸ
. 4
ἄρτιον τὸ ἑτερόμηκες τὸ ἄνισον τὸ ἀριστερὸν τὸ
σκοτεινόν, ὡς ταύτας ἀρχὰς γενέσεως ὑποκειμένας"
᾿Αναξαγόρας δὲ νοῦν καὶ ἄπειρον, Αριστοτέλης δὲ
τὸ μὲν εἶδος τὸ δὲ στέρησιν, Πλάτων δὲ πολλαχοῦ
μὲν οἷον ἐπηλυγαζόμενος καὶ παρακαλυπτόµενος
~ A ` . ` 3
τῶν ἐναντίων ἀρχῶν τὴν μὲν ταὐτὸν ὀνομάζει, τὴν
ὃ . 0 / κ) . - ld PAN + kal
ἑ θάτερον: ἐν δὲ τοῖς Νόμοις ἤδηπ ρεσβύτερος ὢν
2 A A - 3
οὐ δι αἰνιγμῶν οὐδὲ συμβολικῶς, ἀλλὰ κυρίοις
- ~ a A

ὀνόμασιν οὐ μιᾷ ψυχῇ φησι κινεῖσθαι τὸν κόσμον,
ἀλλ A λ ’ mw ὃ - ὃ . 2 $ À ,

à πλείοσιν ἴσως, δυοῖν δὲ πάντως οὐκ ἐλάττοσιν,
τα . 4 > 8 A = A δ᾽ > /
ĝt τὴν μὲν ἀγαθουργὸν εἶναι, τὴν ἐναντίαν

~ $
ταύτῃ καὶ τῶν ἐναντίων δημιουργόν: ἀπολείπει
A A ’ A AJ £. + y
δὲ καὶ ἠρίτην τινὰ μεταξὺ φύσιν οὐκ ἄψυχον
303 y 9993 3 7 3 toa et ”
οὐδ᾽ ἄλογον οὐδ᾽ ἀκίνητον ἐξ αὐτῆς, ὥσπερ ἔνιοι

t > > 5 £ 5 A 3 #
νομίζουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνακειμένην ἀμφοῖν ἐκείναις,
ἐφιεμένην δὲ τῆς ἀμείνονος ἀεὶ καὶ ποθοῦσαν

. tA ε x > 2? LA --
καὶ διώκουσαν, ὡς τὰ ἐπιόντα δηλώσει τοῦ

1 καλεῖ θεμερῶπιν Bentley: καλεῖσθαι μέροπι.
2 τὸ ἴσον added by Xylander.
5 ἐπηλυγαζόμενος Baxter and one ms.: ἐπιλυγιζόμενος,
4 ὧν Squire: ὅθεν.

118

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 370-371

cord “ sedate of countenance”; the worse principle
he calls “ accursed quarrelling ” and “ blood-stained
strife.”

The adherents of Pythagoras @ include a variety of
terms under these categories : under the good they
set Unity, the Determinate, the Permanent, the
Straight, the Odd, the Square, the Fqual, the Right-
handed, the Bright ; under the bad they set Duality,
the Indeterminate, the Moving, the Curved, the
Even, the Oblong, the Unequal, the Left-handed, the
Dark, on the supposition that these are the under-
lying principles of creation. For these, however,
Anaxagoras postulates Mind and Infinitude, Aris-
totle ὃ Form and Privation, and Plato, in many
passages, as though obscuring and veiling his
opinion, names the one of the opposing principles
“Identity ” and the other “ Difference’; but in his
Laws, when he had grown considerably older, he
asserts, not in circumlocution or symbolically, but in
specific words, that the movement of the Universe
is actuated not by one soul, but perhaps by several,
and certainly by not less than two, and of these the
one is beneficent, and the other is opposed to it
and the artificer of things opposed. Between these
he leaves a certain third nature, not inanimate
nor irrational nor without the power to move
of itself as some think, but with dependence on
both those others, and desiring the better always.
and yearning after it and pursuing it, as the succeed-
ing portion of the treatise will make clear, in the

a Cf. Moralia, 881 ©, and Aristotle, Metaphysics, i. 5
(986 a 22).

> Cf. Aristotle, Metaphysics, i. 9 (990 b).

ο Timaeus, 35 a; cf. Moralia, 441 F.

4 Plato, Laws, 896 Dn Β, e Cf. 3T4 x, infra.

119

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(511) λόγου τὴν Αἰγυπτίων θεολογίαν μάλιστα ταύτῃ τῇ
φιλοσοφίᾳ συνοικειοῦντος.

49. Μεμειγμένη. γὰρ ἡ τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου γένεσις
καὶ σύστασις ἐξ ἐναντίων οὐ μὴν ἰσοσθενῶν δυνά-
µεων, ἀλλὰ τῆς βελτίονος τὸ κράτος ἐστίν: ἀπολέ-

A 4 ΄ , > ’ 4
σθαι δὲ τὴν φαύλην παντάπασιν ἀδύνατον, πολλὴν
` 3 A - LA . ` A lad
pev ἐμπεφυκυῖαν τῷ σώματι, πολλὴν δὲ τῇ ψυχῇ
τοῦ παντὸς. καὶ" πρὸς τὴν βελτίονα det δυσμαχοῦ-
σαν. ἐν μὲν οὖν τῇ ψυχῇ νοῦς καὶ λόγος ὁ τῶν
ἀρίστων πάντων ἡγεμὼν καὶ κύριος "Ὀσιρίς ἐστιν,

Β ἐν δὲ γῇ καὶ πνεύματι καὶ ὕδατι καὶ οὐρανῷ καὶ
ἄστροις τὸ τεταγμένον καὶ καθεστηκὸς καὶ ὑγιαῖνον
ὥραις καὶ κράσεσι καὶ περιόδοις ᾿Οσίριδος ἀπορροὴ

‘ 3 ` 3 ΕΑ ` XA A ~ A
καὶ εἰκὼν ἐμφαινομένη: Τυφὼν δὲ τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ
παθητικὸν καὶ τιτανικὸν καὶ ἄλογον καὶ ἔμπληκτον
τοῦ δὲ σωματικοῦ τὸ ἐπίκηρον᾽ καὶ νοσῶδες καὶ
ταρακτικὸν ἀωρίαις' καὶ δυσκρασίαις, καὶ κρύψεσιν
ἡλίου καὶ ἀφανισμοῖς σελήνης, οἷον ἐκδρομαὶ καὶ
ἀφηνιασμοὶ Τυφῶνος" καὶ τοὔνομα κατηγορεῖ τὸ
Σήθ, ᾧ' τὸν Τυφῶνα καλοῦσι: φράζει μὲν τὸ karta-
δυναστεῦον καὶ καταβιαζόμενον, φράζει δὲ τὸ

΄ 2 . ` 7 € / 7 /
πολλάκις ἀναστροφὴν καὶ πάλιν ὑπερπήδησιν." Bé-
~ - ~ e /

C βωνα δὲ τινὲς μὲν ἕνα τῶν τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἑταίρων
γεγονέναι λέγουσι», Μανεθὼς δ᾽ αὖ τὸν Τυφῶνα
καὶ Βέβωνα καλεῖσθαι" σημαίνει δὲ τοὔνομα κάθεξιν

1 kal... ἀεὶ Wyttenbach: del... καὶ.
3 ἐπίκηρον Xylander (ἐπίληπτον 7}: ἐπίκλητον.
ἀωρίαις Baxter: ἀθρίαις.
4 ἀφηνιασμοὶ Markland: ἀφανισμοὶ.
6 ᾧ Xylander: αὖ. 6 τὸ] τὴν Markland.

1 ὑπερπήδησιν] ὑπεκπήδησιν Holwerda.
8 Μανεθὼς δ᾽ Markland: μάνεθος.

190

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 371

endeavour to reconcile the religious beliefs of the
Egyptians with this philosophy.?

40. The fact is that the creation and constitution
of this world is complex, resulting, as it docs, from
opposing influences, which, however, are not of equal
strength, but the predominance rests with the better.
Yet it is impossible for the bad to be completely
eradicated, since it is innate, in large amount, in the
body and likewise in the soul of the Universe, and is
always fighting a hard fight against the better. . So
in the soul Intelligence and Reason, the Ruler and
Lord of all that is good, is Osiris, and in earth and
wind and water and the heavens and stars that which
is ordered, established, and healthy, as evidenced by
seasons, temperatures, and cycles of revolution, is the
efflux of Osiris ὁ and his reflected image. But Typhon
is that. part of the soul which is impressionable, im-
pulsive, irrational and truculent, and of the bodily part
the destructible, diseased and disorderly as evidenced
by abnormal seasons and temperatures, and by obscura-
tions of the sun and disappearances of the moon,®
outbursts, as it were, and unruly actions on the part
of Typhon. And the name “ Seth,” 4 by which they
call Typhon, denotes this ; it means “the overmaster-
ing” and “overpowering,” ë and it means in very many
instances “ turning back,” and again “ overpassing.”
Some say that one of the companions of Typhon was
Bebon, but Manetho says that Bebon was still
another name by which Typhon was called. The
name signifies “restraint” or “hindrance,” as much as

a Cf. 372 x and 377 a, infra.
è See the note on 365 B, supra. 5 Cf. 368 F, supra.
4 Cf. 367 D, supra, and 376 a, infra.
e So also in the Egyptian papyri.

’ Of. 376 B, infra. 9 Cf. 376 a, infra.
121

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(371) ἢ κώλυσιν, ὡς τοῖς πράγμασιν ὁδῷ βαδίζουσι καὶ
πρὸς ὃ χρὴ φερομένοις ἐνισταμένης τῆς τοῦ Tv-

- 4 ~
φῶνος δυνάµεως. (50.) διὸ καὶ τῶν μὲν ἡμέρων
ζῴων ἀπονέμουσιν αὐτῷ τὸ ἀμαθέστατον, ὄνον:
τῶν δ᾽ ἀγρίων τὰ θηριωδέστατα, κροκόδειλον καὶ
τὸν ποτάμιον ἵππον.

x ` 5 1 A » ὃ ὃ λ [ή >

Περὶ μὲν οὖν' τοῦ ὄνου προδεδηλώκαμεν. ἐν
Ἑρμοῦ πόλει δὲ Τυφῶνος ἄγαλμα δεικνύουσιν ἵππον
ποτάμιον: ἐφ᾽ οὗ βέβηκεν ἱέραξ ὄφει μαχόμενος, τῷ

. σ 1 - Φ ~ Q? eer id

D μὲν ἵππῳ τὸν Τυφῶνα δεικνύντες, τῷ δ᾽ ἱέρακι
δύναμιν καὶ ἀρχήν, ἣν βίᾳ κτώμενος ὁ Τυφὼν πολ-

la -
λάκις οὐκ ἀνύεταιξ ταραττόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς κακίας

4 / ` . z ς , a n

καὶ ταράττων. διὸ καὶ θύοντες ἑβδόμῃ τοῦ Tufi
¥ a lol Ld ” 3 ’

μηνός, ἣν καλοῦσι; ἄφιξιν Ίσιδος ἐκ Φοινίκης,

ἐπιπλάττουσι τοῖς ποπάνοις ἵππον ποτάμιον δεδε-

a > 379 + , LA 3 .
μένον. ἐν δ᾽ ᾿Απόλλωνος πόλει νενομισμένον ἐστὶ

’ A LA G t fa %4 ~
κροκοδείλου φαγεῖν πάντως ἕκαστον" ἡμέρᾳ δὲ μιᾷ
poxo φαγεῖν πάντως ἡμέρᾳ δὲ μιᾷ
θηρεύσαντες ὅσους ἂν δύνωνται καὶ κτείναντες
ἀπαντικρὺ τοῦ ἱεροῦ προβάλλουσι: καὶ λέγουσιν ὡς
ε ` $ ει z /. 58 λ /
ὁ Τυφὼν τὸν Ὥρον ἀπέδρα κροκόδειλος γενόμενος,

/ 4 - . ` . FA ` - v

E πάντα καὶ ζῷα καὶ φυτὰ καὶ πάθη τὰ φαῦλα καὶ
βλαβερὰ Τυφῶνος ἔργα καὶ µέρη καὶ κινήµατα
ποιούμενοι.

> - > -

51. Τὸν δ᾽ Ὄσιριν αὖ πάλιν ὀφθαλμῷ καὶ σκή-
πτρῳ γράφουσιν, ὧν τὸ μὲν τὴν πρόνοιαν ἐμ-
ϕ i 4 . ὃ ` ` ὃ 2. [4 Ὅ . 5,

αίνει," τὸ δὲ τὴν δύναμιν, ὡς Ὅμηρος τὸν ἄρχοντα

1 μὲν οὖν Markland: μὲν.
3 ἀνύεται Strijd; ἀνίεται Markland: ἀνιᾶται.

3 Not in the mss. but in the Aldine ed.
4 ἐμφαίνει F.C.B. et al.: ἐμφαίνειν.

a Supra, 362 F.
> The text and significance of this passage are none too
clear.

122

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 371

to say that, when things are going along in a proper
way and making rapid progress towards the right
end, the power of Typhon obstructs them. (50.) For
this reason they assign to him the most stupid of the
domesticated animals, the ass, and of the wild animals,
the most savage, the crocodile and the hippopotamus.

In regard to the ass we have already® offered some
explanation. At Hermopolis they point out a statue
of Typhon in the form of an hippopotamus, on whose
back is poised a hawk fighting with aserpent. By the
hippopotamus they mean to indicate Typhon, and by
the hawk a power and rule, which Typhon strives to
win by force, oftentimes without success, being con-
fused by his wickedness and creating confusion.® For
this reason, when they offer sacrifice on the seventh
day of the month Tybi, which they call the “ Coming
of Isis from Phoenicia,” they imprint on their sacred
cakes the image of an hippopotamus tied fast. In
the town of Apollonopolis it is an established custom
for every person without exception to eat of a croco-
dile «; and on one day they hunt as many as they
can and, after killing them, cast them down directly
opposite the temple. And they relate that Typhon
escaped Horus by turning into a crocodile, and they
would make out that all animals and plants and inci-
dents that are bad and harmful are the deeds and
parts and movements of Typhon.

51. Then again, they depict Osiris by means of an
eye and a sceptre,¢ the one of which indicates fore-
thought and the other power, much as Homer ° in

¢ Cf. Herodotus, ii. 69; Aelian, De Natura Animalium,
x. 21; Strabo, xvii. 1. 47 (p. 817).

4 Of. 904 F, supra.

e Homer, Iliad, viii. 99,

123

372

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA >

‘ ΄ LA 6 a? e 4 /
καὶ βασιλεύοντα πάντων “ Ζῆν᾽ ὕπατον καὶ ph-
στωρα ”. καλῶν, ἔοικε τῷ μὲν ὑπάτῳ τὸ κράτος
αὐτοῦ, τῷ δὲ μήστωρι τὴν εὐβουλίαν καὶ τὴν
φρόνησιν σημαίνειν. γράφουσι καὶ ἱέρακι τὸν θεὸν

- ΄ » ’ . 5, ε ’
τοῦτον πολλάκις" εὐτονίᾳ γὰρ ὄψεως ὑπερβάλλει

. > -
καὶ πτήσεως ὀξύτητι, καὶ διοικεῖν αὑτὸν ἐλαχίστῃ'

~ . A
τροφῇ πέφυκε. λέγεται δὲ Kat νεκρῶν ἀτάφων
dupact γῆν ὑπερπετόμενος ἐπιβάλλειν' ὅταν δὲ
N . ` A
πιόµενος ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν καταίρῃ, τὸ πτερὸν
ἵστησιν ὀρθόν: πιὼν δὲ κλίνει τοῦτο πάλιν: ᾧ
δῆλός ἐστι σεσωσμένος καὶ διαπεφευγὼς τὸν κροκό-
δειλον- ἂν γὰρ ἁρπασθῇ, μένει τὸ πτερὸν ὥσπερ
ἔστη πεπηγός.
- 4a

Πανταχοῦ δὲ καὶ ἀνθρωπόμορφον ᾿Ὀσίριδος
3 , > / ~ > f + A
ἄγαλμα δεικνύουσιν, ἐξορθιάζον τῷ αἰδοίῳ διὰ τὸ
γόνιμον καὶ τὸ τρόφιμον. ἀμπεχόνῃ δὲ φλογοειδεῖ
στέλλουσιν' αὐτοῦ τὰς εἰκόνας, ἥλιον σῶμα" τῆς
τἀγαθοῦ δυνάμεως ὡς ὁρατὸν οὐσίας νοητῆς ἡγού-

ενοι. διὸ καὶ καταφρονεῖν ἄξιόν ἐστι τῶν τὴν
ey? a - Ed KO +
ἡλίου σφαῖραν Τυφῶνι προσνεµόντων, ᾧ λαμπρὸν

301 301 , ΣΡ σοι 2 204
οὐδὲν οὐδὲ σωτήριον οὐδὲ τάξις οὐδὲ γένεσις οὐδὲ
κίνησις μέτρον ἔχουσα καὶ λόγον, ἀλλὰ τἀναντία
προσήκει" καὶ αὐχμόν, ᾧ᾽ φθείρει πολλὰ τῶν ζῴων

A $ κ} ey7 ΄ pA 3 .
καὶ βλαστανόντων, οὐχ ἡλίου θετέον ἔργον, ἀλλὰ
τῶν ἐν γῇ καὶ ἀέρι μὴ καθ᾽ ὥραν κεραννυμένων

1 ἐλαχίστῃ Bernardakis: ἐλάχιστα τῇ.

= :

ὄμμασι] σώμαοι Xylander.

πιόµενος Bernardakis : πιούμενος.

4 ἀμπεχόνῃ . . . στέλλουσιν Baxter: ἀμπεχόνη δὲ φλογοειδὴς

στέλλουσα. 5 σῶμα] ὄμμα Markland.
6 ᾧ F.C.B.; ὃς Baxter: οἷς.

α Cf. Aelian, De Natura Animalium, ii. 42, and Por-
phyry, De Abstinentia, iv. 9. > Ibid. x. 24.

124

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 371-372

calling the Lord and King of all ‘‘ Zeus supreme and
counsellor’ appears by “supreme” tosignify his prowess
and by “counsellor” his careful planning and thought-
fulness. They also often depict this god by means of
a hawk ; for this bird is surpassing in the keenness of
its vision and the swiftness of its flight, and is wont
to support itself with the minimum amount of food.
It is said also in flying over the earth to cast dust
upon the eyes of unburied dead 5; and whenever it
settles down beside the river to drink it raises its
feather upright, and after it has drunk it lets this
sink down again, by which it is plain that the bird
is safe and has escaped the crocodile,’ for if it be
seized, the feather remains fixed upright as it was
at the beginning.

Everywhere they point out statues of Osiris in
human form of the ithyphallic type, on account of
his creative and fostering power 5; and they clothe
his statues in a flame-coloured garment, since they
regard the body of the Sun as a visible manifestation
of the perceptible substance of the power for good.#
Therefore it is only right and fair to contemn those
who assign the orb of the Sun to Typhon,” to whom
there attaches nothing bright or of aconserving nature,
no order nor generation nor movement possessed
of moderation or reason, but everything the re-
verse ; moreover, the drought,’ by which he destroys
many of the living creatures and growing plants, is
. not to be set down as the work of the Sun, but rather
as due to the fact that the winds and waters in the
earth and the air are not seasonably tempered when

e Cf. 365 B, supra.
4 Cf. 393 p and 477 ο, infra.
ο Of. 372 £, infra. 7 Cf. 367 D, supra.
125

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

, . ε + Y ε - 3 $ ᾿ H
(372) πνευμάτων καὶ ὑδάτων, ὅταν ἡ τῆς ἀτάκτου καὶ

ἀορίστου. δυνάμεως ἀρχὴ πλημμελήσασα κατα-
σβέσῃ τὰς ἀναθυμιάσεις. |
B 52. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἱεροῖς ὕμνοις τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ἆ ava-
καλοῦνται τὸν ἐν ταῖς ἀγκάλαις κρυπτόμενον τοῦ
ἡλίου, καὶ τῇ τριακάδι τοῦ ᾿Επιφὶ μηνὸς έορ-
τάζουσιν ὀφθαλμῶν Ὥρου γενέθλιον, ὅτε σελήνη
καὶ ἥλιος ἐπὶ μιᾶς εὐθείας γεγόνασιν, ὡς οὐ μόνον
τὴν σελήνην ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ὄμμα τοῦ Ὥρου
καὶ φῶς ἡγούμενοι.
TH δὲ ὀγδόῃ φθίνοντος τοῦ Φαωφὶ βακτηρίας
ἡλίου γενέθλιον' ἄγουσι μετὰ φθινοπωρινὴν ion-
μερίαν, ἐμφαίνοντες οἷον ὑπερείσματος δεῖσθαι καὶ
ῥώσεως, τῷ τε θερμῷ γιγνόμενον. καὶ τῷ φωτὶ
C ἐνδεᾶ, κλινόμενον καὶ πλάγιον ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν φερόμενον.
Ἔτι δὲ τὴν βοῦν ὑπὸ τροπὰς χειμερινὰς ἑπτάκις
περὶ τὸν ναὸν περιφέρουσι τοῦ Ἡλίου" ` καὶ καλεῖται
ζήτησις "Ὀσίριδος ἡ περιδρομή, τὸ ὕδωρ Χειμῶνος
τῆς θεοῦ ποθούσης" τοσαυτάκις δὲ περιίασι," ὅτι
τὴν ἀπὸ τροπῶν χειμερινῶν ἐπὶ τροπὰς θερινὰς
πάροδον” ' ἑβδόμῳ μηνὶ συμπεραίνει. λέγεται δὲ καὶ
θῦσαι τῷ ἡλίῳ, τετράδι μηνὸς ἱσταμένου πάντων
πρῶτος Ὧρος ὁ Ἴσιδος, ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἐπιγραφομένοις
Tr ενεθλίοις Ὥρου γέγραπται.
Καὶ μὴν, ἡμέρας ἑκάστης τριχῶς ἐπιθυμιῶσι τῷ
D ἡλίῳ, ῥητίνην μὲν ὑπὸ τὰς ἀνατολὰς, σμύρναν δὲ
μεσουρανοῦντι, τὸ δὲ καλούμενον κῦφι περὶ δυσμάς:
1 γενέθλιον Bentley: γενέσθαι ὃν.
3 καὶ Petavius: ἐνδεᾶ καὶ.
3 In the mss. τοῦ Ἡλίου follows περιδρομή and not mepi-

φέρουσι: 5 transposed by Pinder.
4 περιίασι Wyttenbach: περίειαι,

5 πάροδον] περίοδον Markland.
136

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 372

the principle of the disorderly and unlimited power
gets out of hand and quenches the exhalations.*

52. In the sacred hymns of Osiris they call upon
him who is hidden in the arms of the Sun; and on
the thirtieth of the month Epiphi they celebrate the
birthday of the Eyes of Horus, at the time when the
Moon and the Sun are in a perfectly straight line,
since they regard not only the Moon but also the Sun
as the eye and light of Horus.

On the 8th of the waning of the month Phaophi
they conduct the birthday of the Staff of the Sun
following upon the autumnal equinox, and by this
they declare, as it were, that he is in need of support
and strength, since he becomes lacking in warmth and
light, and undergoes decline, and is carried away from
us to one side.

Moreover, at the time of the winter solstice they
lead the cow seven times around the temple of the
Sun and this cireumambulation is called the Seeking
for Osiris, since the Goddess in the winter-time yearns .
for water ; so many times do they go around, because
in the seventh month the Sun completes the transition
from the winter solstice to the summer solstice. It is
said also that Horus, the son of Isis, offered sacrifice to
the Sun first of all on the fourth day of the month, as
is written in the records entitled the Birthdays of
Horus.

Every day they make a triple offering of incense to
the Sun, an offering of resin at sunrise, of myrrh at
midday, and of the so-called cyphi at sunset; the

α Cf. 369 a, supra.

127

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(372) ὧν ἕκαστον ὃν ἔχει λόγον, ὕστερον ἀφηγήσομαι.
τὸν δ᾽ ἥλιον πᾶσι τούτοις προστρέπεσθαι' καὶ θερά-
πεύειν οἴονται. καὶ τί δεῖ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα συνάγειν;
εἰσὶ γὰρ οἱ τὸν Ὄσιριν ἄντικρυς ἥλιον εἶναι καὶ
ὀνομάζεσθαι σείριον ὑφ᾽ Ἑλλήνων λέγοντες, εἰ καὶ
παρ᾽ Λγυπτίοις ἡ πρόσθεσις" τοῦ ἄρθρου τοὔνομα
πεποίηκεν ἀμφιγνοεῖσθαι, τὴν δ᾽ ‘low οὐχ ἑτέραν
τῆς σελήνης ἀποφαίνοντες” ὅθεν" καὶ τῶν ἀγαλ-
μάτων αὐτῆς τὰ μὲν κερασφόρα τοῦ μηνοειδοῦς
γεγονέναι μιμήματα, τοῖς δὲ µελανοστόλοις ἐμ-

αίνεσθαι' τὰς κρύψεις. καὶ τοὺς περισκιασμοὺς ἐν
οἷς διώκει ποθοῦσα τὸν ἥλιον. διὸ καὶ πρὸς τὰ

E ο ον τὴν σελήνην ἐπικαλοῦνται, καὶ τὴν “low
Εὔδοξός φησι βραβεύειν τὰ ἐρωτικά. καὶ τούτοις

μὲν ἁμωσγέπωςὴ τοῦ πιθανοῦ μέτεστι, τῶν δὲ
Τυφῶνα ποιούντων τὸν ἥλιον οὐδ᾽ ἀκούειν ἄξιον.
᾿Αλλ᾽ ἡμεῖς αὖθις τὸν οἰκεῖον ἀναλάβωμεν λόγον.
(53.) ἡ yap “lois ἐστι pev τὸ τῆς φύσεως θῆλυ,
καὶ δεκτικὸν ἁπάσης γενέσεως, καθὸ τιθήνη καὶ
πανδεχὴς ὑπὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν πολλῶν
μυριώνυμος κέκληται, διὰ τὸ πάσας ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου
τρεποµένη μορφὰς δέχεσθαι καὶ ἰδέας. ἔχει δὲ
σύμφυτον, ἔρωτα τοῦ πρώτου καὶ κυριωτάτου
πάντων, ὃ τἀγαθῷ ταὐτόν ἐστι κἀκεῖνο ποθεῖ καὶ
F διώκει’ τὴν δ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ κακοῦ φεύγει καὶ διωθεῖται

1 προστρέπεσθαι Madvig: προτρέπεσθαι.

3 πρόσθεσις F.C.B.: πρόθεσις. 3 ὅθεν Markland: êv.
: ἐμφαίνεσθαι Markland: ἐμφαίνουσι.
5 -ἁμωσγέπως Markland: ἄλλως yé πως.

a Cf. 383 a-end, infra.

è An attempt to connect Ὄσιρις and ὁ Σέρος» Cf
Diodorus, i. 11. 3-4.
128

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 372

reason which underlies each one of these offerings I
will describe later.” They think that by means of all
these they supplicate and serve the Sun. Yet, what
need is there to collect many such things ? There are
some who without reservation assert that Osiris is the
Sun and is called the Dog-star (Sirius) by the Greeks ὅ
even if among the Egyptians the addition of the
article has created some ambiguity in regard to the
name ; and there are those who declare that Isis is
none other than the Moon ; for this reason it is said
that the statues of Isis that bear horns are imitations
of the crescent moon, and in her dark garments are
shown the concealments and the obscurations in which
she in her yearning pursues the Sun. For this reason
also they call upon the Moon in love affairs, and
Eudoxus asserts that Isis is a deity who presides over
love affairs. These people may lay claim to a certain
plausibility, but no one should listen for a moment to
those who make Typhon to be the Sun.

But let us now take up again the proper subject
of our discussion. (53.) Isis is, in fact, the female
principle of Nature, and is receptive of every form
of generation, in accord with which she is called. by `
Plato the gentle nurse and the all-receptive, and
by most people has been called by countless names,
since, because of the -force of Reason, she turns
herself to this thing or that and is receptive of all
manner of shapes and forms. She has an innate
‘love for the first and most dominant of all things,
which is identical with the good, and this she yearns
for and pursues ; but the portion which comes from
evil she tries to avoid and to reject, for she serves

c Cf. Plato, Timaeus, 494 and 514; also Moralia,
1014 D, 1015 D, and 1023 a.

129

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

μοῖραν, ἀμφοῖν μὲν οὖσα χώρα καὶ ὕλη, ῥέπουσα δ᾽
ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον ἐξ ἑ ἑαυτῆς καὶ παρέχουσα γεννᾶν
ἐκείνῳ" καὶ κατασπείρειν εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἀπορροὰς" καὶ
ὁμοιότητας, αἷς χαίρει καὶ γέγηθε κυϊσκομένη, καὶ
ὑποπιμπλαμένη τῶν γενέσεων. εἰκὼν γάρ ἐστιν
οὐσίας ἐν ὕλῃ γένεσις καὶ μίμημα τοῦ ὄντος τὸ
γιγνόμενον. i
373 54. Ὅθεν οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου .μυθολογοῦσι τὴν
᾿Οσίριδος ψυχὴν ἀίδιον εἶναι καὶ ἄφθαρτον, τὸ. δὲ
σῶμα πολλάκις διασπᾶν καὶ ἀφανίξειν τὸν Τυφῶνα,
τὴν δ᾽ Ἶσιν πλανωμένην, καὶ ζητεῖν" καὶ συν-
αρµόττειν πάλιν. τὸ γὰρ ov καὶ νοητὸν καὶ
ἀγαθὸν φθορᾶς καὶ μεταβολῆς κρεῖττόν ἐστιν" as*
δ᾽ ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὸ αἰσθητὸν καὶ σωματικὸν εἰκόνας
ἐκμάττεται, καὶ λόγους καὶ εἴδη καὶ ὁμοιότητας
ἀναλαμβάνει, καθάπερ ἐν κηρῷ σφραγῖδες οὐκ ἀεὶ
διαμένουσιν, ἀλλὰ καταλαμβάνει τὸ ἄτακτον αὐτὸς
B καὶ ταραχῶδες ἐνταῦθα τῆς ἄνω χώρας «ἀπεληλα-
μένον καὶ μαχόμενον πρὸς τὸν Ὥρον,. ὃν ἡ “lous
εἰκόνα τοῦ νοητοῦ κόσμου αἰσθητὸν ὄντα γεννᾷ.
διὸ καὶ δίκην φεύγειν λέγεται νοθείας ú ὑπὸ Τυφῶνος,
ὡς οὐκ ὢν καθαρὸς οὐδ᾽ εἰλικρινῆς οἷος ὁ πατήρ,
λόγος αὐτὸς καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἀμιγὴς καὶ ἀπαθής, ἀλλὰ
νενοθευμένος τῇ. ὕλῃ διὰ τὸ σωματικόν. περιγίγ-
νεται δὲ καὶ νικᾷ τοῦ "Ἑρμοῦ, τουτέστι τοῦ λόγου,
μαρτυροῦντος καὶ δεικνύοντος ὅτι πρὸς τὸ νοητὸν
ἡ φύσις μετασχηματιζομένη τὸν κόσμον ἀποδίδω-

1 ἐκείνῳ Baxter: ἐκεῖνο.
3 ἀπορροὰς the more common form: ἀπορροίας.
3 καὶ i ζητεῖν] ἀναζητεῖν Markland.
as Wyttenbach : τινὰς,
5 περιγίνεται δὲ καὶ νικᾷ Xylander: περιγίνονται δὲ καὶ νῖκαι,

130

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 372-373

them both as a place and means of growth, but in-
clines always towards the better and offers to it
opportunity to create from her and to impregnate her
with effluxes and likenesses in which she rejoices and
is glad that she is made pregnant and teeming with
these creations. For creation is the image of being in
matter, and the thing created is a picture of réality.
54, It is not, therefore, out of keeping that they
have a legend that the soul of Osiris is everlasting and
imperishable, but that his body Typhon oftentimes
dismembers and causes to disappear, and that Isis
wanders hither and yon in her search for it, and fits
it together again*; for that which really is and is
perceptible and good is superior to destruction and
change. The images from it with which the sensible
and corporeal is impressed, and the relations, forms,
and likenesses which this takes upon itself, like im-
__ pressions of seals in wax, are not permanently lasting,
but disorder and disturbance overtakes them, being
driven hither from the upper reaches, and fighting
against Horus,’ whom Isis brings forth, beholden of
all, as the image of the perceptible world. Therefore
it is said that he is brought to trial by Typhon on
the charge of illegitimacy, as not being pure nor un-
contaminated like his father, reason unalloyed and
unaffected of itself, but contaminated in his substance
because of the corporeal element. He prevails,
however, and wins the case when Hermes,” that is to
say Reason, testifies and points out that Nature, by
undergoing changes of form with reference to the
perceptible, duly brings about the creation of the world.
a Of. 358 a, supra. > Cf. 358 υ, supra.

g 131

(373)
0

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

ow. ἡ μὲν γάρ, ἔτι τῶν θεῶν ἐν γαστρὶ τῆς Ῥέας
ὄντων, ἐξ ” Ἴσιδος καὶ ᾿Οσίριδος γενομένη! γένεσις
᾿Απόλλωνος αἰνίττεται τὸ πρὶν ἐκφανῆ γενέσθαι
τόνδε τὸν κόσμον καὶ συντελεσθῆναι τῷ λόγῳ" τὴν
ὕλην, φύσει ἐλεγχομένην ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς" ἀτελῆ τὴν
πρώτην γένεσυ, ἐξενεγκεῖν. διὸ καί φασι τὸν θεὸν
ἐκεῖνον ἀνάπηρον ὑπὸ σκότῳ γενέσθαι, καὶ πρεσβύ-
τερον Ὥρον καλοῦσιν" οὐ γὰρ ἦν κόσμος, ἀλλ᾽
εἴδωλόν τι καὶ κόσμου φάντασμα μέλλοντος.

55. Ὁ δ᾽ Ώρος οὗτος αὐτός ἐστιν ὡρισμένος καὶ
τέλειος, οὐκ ἀνηρηκὼς τὸν Τυφῶνα. παντάπασιν,
ἀλλὰ τὸ δραστήριον καὶ ἰσχυρὸν αὐτοῦ παρῃρη-
μένος. ὅθεν ἐν Κοπτῷ τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦ "Όρου
λέγουσιν ἐν τῇ ἑτέρᾳ χειρὶ Τυφῶνος αἰδοῖα κατ-
έχειν" καὶ τὸν Ἑρμῆν μυθολογοῦσιν ἐξελόντα τοῦ
Τυφῶνος τὰ νεῦρα χορδαῖς χρήσασθαι, διδάσκοντες
ὡς τὸ πᾶν ὁ λόγος διαρμοσάμενος σύμφωνον ἐξ
ἀσυμφώνων μερῶν ἐποίησε, καὶ τὴν φθαρτικὴν οὐκ
ἀπώλεσεν ἀλλ᾽ ἀνεπήρωσε" δύναμιν. ὅθεν ἐκείνη
μὲν ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἀδρανὴς ἐνταῦθα -φυρομένη καὶ
προσπλεκοµένη. τοῖς παθητικοῖς καὶ μεταβολικοῖς
μέρει. σεισμῶν μὲν ἐν γῆ, kat τρόμων, αὐχμῶν
δ᾽ ἐν ἀέρι καὶ πνευμάτων ἀτόπων, αὖθις δὲ πρη-

στήρων καὶ κεραυνῶν δημιουργός ἐ ἐστι. φαρμάττει i

δὲ καὶ λοιμοῖς ὕδατα καὶ πνεύματα, καὶ μέχρι
σελήνης ἀνατρέχει καὶ ἀναχαιτίζει συγχέουσα" καὶ
μελαίνουσα πολλάκις τὸ λαμπρόν, ὡς Αἰγύπτιοι

τ γενομένη] λεγομένη Hartman,
τῷ λόγῳ Marklanı : τοῦ λόγου.
5 ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς js C.B.; ἐφ᾽ αὑτῆς Markland: én’ αὐτὴν.
4 ἀνεπήρωσε Baxter: ἀνεπλήρωσε. i
5 μέρεσι Squire: μέλεσι.

132

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 373

The birth of Apollo from Isis and Osiris, while these
gods were still in the womb of Rhea, has the alle-
gorical meaning that before this world was made vis-
ible and its rough material was completely formed by
Reason, it was put to the test by Nature and brought
forth of itself the first creation imperfect. This is the
reason why they say that this god was born in the
darkness a cripple, and they call him the elder Horus ¢;
for there was then no world, but only an image and
outline of a world to be.

55. But this Horus is himself perfected and com-
plete; but he has not done away completely with
Typhon, but has taken away his activity and strength.
Hence they say that at Kopto the statue of Horus
holds in one hand the privy members of Typhon, and
they relate a legend that Hermes cut out the sinews
of Typhon, and used them as strings for his lyre,
thereby instructing us that Reason adjusts the
Universe and creates concord out of discordant
elements, and that it does not destroy but only
cripples the destructive force. Hence this is weak
and inactive here, and combines with the susceptible
and changeable elemerits and attaches itself to them,
becoming the artificer of quakes and tremblings in
the earth, and of droughts and tempestuous winds
in the air, and of lightning-flashes and thunderbolts.
Moreover, it taints waters and winds with pestilence,
and it runs forth wanton even as far as the moon,
oftentimes confounding and darkening the moon’s
brightness ; according to the belief and account of

a Cf. 356 a, supra.
6 § ἐν Xylander: καὶ ἐν.

7 συγχέουσα Baxter: συνέχουσα.

133

374

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

’ A + 5 - ο : ~ .
νομίξουσι καὶ λέγουσιν, ὅτι τοῦ Ὅρου νῦν μὲν
> 2 ~ S 2 Δ. i, e ` κ
ἐπάταξε, viv δ᾽ ἐξελὼν κατέπιεν ὁ ᾿Γυφὼν τὸν
> ld ~ ejt 4 > i .
ὀφθαλμόν, εἶτα τῷ ἡλίῳ πάλιν ἀπέδωκα: πληγὴν
μὲν αἰνιττόμενοι τὴν κατὰ μῆνα μείωσιν τῆς σε-

Y. #: ` EFA ” a ε A Ja
λήνης, πήρωσιν δὲ τὴν ἔκλειψιν, ἣν ὁ ἥλιος ἰᾶται
διαφυγούση! τὴν σκιὰν τῆς γῆς εὐθὺς ἀντιλάμπων.

56. Ἡ δὲ κρείττων καὶ θειοτέρα φύσις ἐκ τριῶν
ἐστι, τοῦ νοητοῦ καὶ τῆς ὕλης καὶ τοῦ ἐκ τούτων,
e , ο 3 ΄ ε ` [ον
ὃν κόσμον Ἕλληνες ὀνομάζουσιν. ὃ μὲν οὖν
Πλάτων τὸ μὲν νοητὸν καὶ ἰδέαν καὶ παράδειγμα
καὶ πατέρα, τὴν δ᾽ ὕλην καὶ μητέρα καὶ τιθήνην
ἕδραν τε καὶ χώραν γενέσεως, τὸ 8 ἐξ ἀμφοῖν
ἔκγονον᾽ καὶ γένεσιν ὀνομάζειν εἴωθεν.

Αἰγυπτίους δ᾽ ἄν τις εἰκάσειε τῶν τριγώνων τὸ
κάλλιστον τιμᾶν μάλιστα τούτῳ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς
φύσιν ὁμοιοῦντας, ὡς' καὶ Πλάτων ἐν τῇ Πολιτείᾳ
δοκεῖ τούτῳ προσκεχρῆσθαι τὸ γαμήλιον διάγραμμα
συντάττων. ἔχει δ᾽ ἐκεῖνο τὸ τρίγωνον τριῶν τὴν
πρὸς ὀρθίαν καὶ τεττάρων τὴν βάσιν καὶ πέντε

” ~
τὴν ὑποτείνουσαν ἴσον ταῖς περιεχούσαις δυναμένην.
κ - ` ys

εἰκαστέον οὖν τὴν μὲν πρὸς ὀρθὰςὶ ἄρρενι, τὴν δὲ
βάσιν θηλείᾳ, τὴν δ᾽ ὑποτείνουσαν ἀμφοῖν ἐγγόνῳ,
καὶ τὸν μὲν "Όσιρι ὡς ἀρχήν, τὴν δ᾽ Ἴσιν ὡς
€ ὃ £ 4 δ᾽ OQ ε 3 όλ. . .
ὑποδοχήν, τὸν ρον ὡς ἀποτέλεσμα. τὰ μὲν
γὰρ τρία πρῶτος περιττός ἐστι καὶ τέλειος" τὰ

4 m~ -
δὲ τέτταρα τετράγωνος ἀπὸ πλευρᾶς ἀρτίου τῆς

/ Sgr ce δολ a ` a Ὅν Πα
δυάδος" τὰ δὲ πέντε πῇ μὲν τῷ πατρὶ πῇ δὲ τῇ

1 διαφυγούσῃ Bentley: διαφυγούσης.
2 ἔκγονον Emperius: ἔγγονον.
8 τιμᾶν added by Michael and F.C.B.

4 ὡς Markland: ᾧ.
δ ὀρθὰς] ὀρθίαν Reiske.

134

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 373-374

the Egyptians, Typhon at one time smites the eye
of Horus, and at another time snatches it out and
swallows it, and then later gives it back again to the
Sun. By the smiting, they refer allegorically to the
monthly waning of the moon, and by the crippling, to
its eclipse,* which the Sun heals by shining straight
upon it as soon as it has escaped the shadow of the
earth.

56. The better and more divine nature consists of
three parts: the conceptual, the material, and that
which is formed from these, which the Greeks call the
world. Plato? is wont to give to the conceptual the
name of idea, example, or father, and to the material
the name of mother or nurse, or seat and place of
generation, and to that which results from both the
name of offspring or generation.

One might conjecture that the Egyptians hold in
high honour the most beautiful of the triangles,’ since
they liken the nature of the Universe most closely to
it, as Plato in the Republic ἆ seems to have made use of
it in formulating his figure of marriage. This triangle
has its upright of three units, its base of four, and its
hypotenuse of five, whose power is equal to that of
the other two sides. The upright, therefore, may be
likened to the male, the base to the female, and the
hypotenuse to the child of both, and so Osiris may be
regarded as the origin, Isis as the recipient, and Horus
as perfected result. Three is the first perfect odd
number: four is a square whose side is the even
number two; but five is in some ways like to its
father, and in some ways like to its mother, being

@ Of. 368 F, supra. > Plato, Timaeus, 50 c-p.
« Cf. 393 D, infra. ἆ Plato, Republic, 546 B-c.
* Cf. 429 £, infra.
135

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

ay / 3 Z , ΠΝ ΄
(374) μητρὶ προσέοικεν, ἐκ τριάδος συγκείμενα καὶ δυά-
δος. καὶ τὰ πάντα τῶν πέντε γέγονε παρώνυμα,
A

καὶ τὸ ἀριθμήσασθαι πεμπάσασθαι λέγουσιν.
ποιεῖ δὲ τετράγωνον ἡ πεντὰς ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτῆς, ὅσον

wn , > . --
Β τῶν γραμμάτων παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίοις τὸ πλῆθός ἐστι,

λο - / o
καὶ ὅσων ἐνιαυτῶν ἔζη χρόνον ὁ “Ants.

Τὸν! μὲν οὖν Ὧρον εἰώθασι καὶ Mi* mpos-
αγορεύειν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὁρώμενον" αἰσθητὸν γὰρ καὶ
τ 4 ε Ἢ ς 3 > s εἰ ` `
ὁρατὸν ὁ κόσμος. ἡ 8 “lows ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ Μοὺθ

. η ” ` 4 z 2 3
καὶ πάλιν "Αθυρι καὶ Μεθύερ προσαγορεύεται"

eA - -
σημαίνουσι δὲ τῷ μὲν πρώτῳ τῶν ὀνομάτων
’ - d e

μητέρα: τῷ δὲ δευτέρῳ οἶκον Ὥρου κόσμιον, ws
.
καὶ Πλάτων χώραν γενέσεως καὶ δεξαμενήν- τὸ δὲ
τρίτον σύνθετόν ἐστιν ἔκ τε τοῦ πλήρους καὶ τοῦ
αἰτίου": πλήρης γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ὕλη τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τῷ

ἀγαθῷ καὶ καθαρῷ καὶ κεκοσμημένῳ σύνεστιν.
C 57. Δόξειε δ᾽ ἂν ἴσως καὶ “Ἡσίοδος τὰ πρῶτα

΄ - 2 -
πάντα» χάος καὶ γῆν καὶ τάρταρον καὶ ἔρωτα ποιῶν
> e / λ t 3 $ 1λλὰ Pa 6 17 δὴ
οὐχ ἑτέρας λαμβάνειν ἀρχάς, ἀλλὰ ταύτας, εἰ 07
τῶν ὀνομάτων τῇ μὲν Ἴσιδι τὸ τῆς γῆς, τῷ δ᾽
3 ’ - > - - -
Ὀσίριδι τὸ τοῦ ἔρωτος, τῷ δὲ Τυφῶνι τὸ τοῦ
ταρτάρου μεταλαμβάνοντές πως ἀποδίδομεν: τὸ
γὰρ ydos δοκεῖ χώραν τινὰ καὶ τόπον τοῦ παντὸς
ὑποτίθεσθαι.
- .

Προσκαλεῖται δὲ καὶ τὸν Πλάτωνος ἁμωσγέπως

τὰ πράγματα μῦθον, ὃν Σωκράτης ἐν Συμποσίῳ
4 - ~ -

περὶ τῆς τοῦ "Ἔρωτος γενέσεως διῆλθε, τὴν Πενίαν

λέγων τέκνων δεομένην τῷ [dpm καθεύδοντι

1 § "Ams. τὸν Xylander, confirmed by one ms.: ὃ ἄπιστον
most Mss.

2 καὶ Μὶν Pinder and one ms.: Καίμιν.

3 προσαγορεύεται Basel ed. of 1542: προσαγορεύουσι.

pomayop Pit ΡΟΗ ΌΡΕΣ

4 αἰτίου] ἀγαθοῦ Markland; ἀρτίου Reiske (ἁγίου 9).

126

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 374

made up of three and two.* And panta (all) is a
derivative of pente (five), and they speak of counting
as “ numbering by fives.” © Five makes a square of
itself, as many as the letters of the Egyptian alphabet,
and as many as the years of the life of the Apis.

Horus they are wont to call also Min, which means
“seen” ; for the world is something perceptible and
visible, and Isis is sometimes called Muth, and again
Athyrior Methyer. By the first of these names they
signify “ mother,” by the second the mundane house
of Horus, the place and receptacle of generation, as
Plato ¢ has it, and the third is compounded of “ full ”
and “ cause’; for the material of the world is full,
and is associated with the good and pure and orderly.

57. It might appear that Hesiod, in making the
very first things of all to be Chaos and Earth and
Tartarus and Love, did not accept any other origins
but only these, if we transfer the names somewhat
and assign to Isis the name of Earth and to Osiris the
name of Love and to Typhon the name of Tartarus ;
for the poct seems to place Chaos at the bottom as |
a sort of region that serves as a resting-place for the

. Universe.

This subject secms in some wise to call up the myth
of Plato, which Socrates in the Symposium® gives at
some length in regard to the birth of Love, saying
that Poverty, wishing for children, insinuated herself

= Of. Moralia, 264 a, and Rose, Plutarch’s Roman Ques-
tions, p. 170.

è Cf. 387 £ and 429 D-F, infra.

e Plato, Timaeus, 52 p-53 a. Οἵ also Moralia, 882 c and
1023 a.

4 Theogony, 116-122. e Plato, Symposium, 203 x.

5 πάντα] πάντων Baxter. ὁ ταύτας] τὰς αὐτὰς Halm.

7 εἰ Ε.0.Β.1 εἴγε Xylander: γε. 8 πως Reiske: ὡς.
137

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(374) παρακλιθῆναι, καὶ κυήσασαν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τεκεῖν τὸν
Ὁ Ἔρωτα, Φύσει μεικτὸν" ὄντα καὶ παντοδαπόν, ἅτε
δὴ πατρὸς μὲν ἀγαθοῦ καὶ σοφοῦ καὶ πᾶσιν aùr-
ἄρκους, μητρὸς δ᾽ ἀμηχάνου καὶ ἀπόρου καὶ be
ἔνδειαν ἀεὶ γλιχομένης ἑτέρου καὶ περὶ ἕτερον
λιπαρούσης γεγενημένον. ὁ γὰρ Πόρος οὐχ ἕτερός
ἐστι τοῦ πρώτου ἐρατοῦ᾽ καὶ ἐφετοῦ καὶ τελείου καὶ
αὐτάρκους" Πενίαν δὲ τὴν ὕλην προσεῖπεν, ἐνδεᾶ
μὲν οὖσαν αὐτὴν Kal? ἑαυτὴν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, πληρου-
μένην δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ποθοῦσαν ἀεὶ καὶ petada
βάνουσαν. ὁ δὲ γενόμενος ἐκ τούτων κόσμος καὶ
Ώρος οὐκ ἀίδιος οὐδ᾽ ἀπαθὴς οὐδ᾽ ἄφθαρτος, ἀλλ᾽
Ta ἀειγενὴς ὢν μηχανᾶται ταῖς τῶν παθῶν μεταβολαῖς
καὶ περιόδοις ἀεὶ νέος καὶ μηδέποτε φθαρησόμενος
διαμένειν.

58. Χρηστέον δὲ τοῖς μύθοις οὐχ ὡς λό γοις
πάμπαν οὖσιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρόσφορον ἑ ἑκάστου τὸ κατὰ"
τὴν ὁμοιότητα λαμβάνοντας. ὅταν οὖν ὕλην λέγω-
μεν, οὐ δεῖ πρὸς ἐνίων φιλοσόφων δόξας ἁποφερο-
μένους ἀψυχόν τι σῶμα καὶ ἄποιον ἀργόν τε καὶ
ἄπρακτον ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ διανοεῖσθαι’ καὶ γὰρ ἔλαιον
ὅλην μύρου καλοῦμεν, χρυσὸν ἀγάλματος, οὐκ ὄντα
πάσης ἔρημα ποιότητος" αὐτήν τε τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ

Ετὴν διάνοιαν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὡς ὅλην ἐπιστήμης καὶ
ἀρετῆς τῷ λόγῳ κοσμεῖν καὶ ῥυθμίζειν παρέχομεν"
τόν τε νοῦν ἔνιοι τόπον εἰδῶν" ἀπεφήναντο καὶ τῶν
νοητῶν οἷον ἐκμαγεῖον.

τ μεικτὸν Xylander : μακρὸν,
5 ἐρατοῦ Markland : ἐραστοῦ.
3 τὸ κατὰ] κατὰ W) yttenbach.
4 ποιότητος Xylander: ὁμοιότητος.
5 εἰδῶν] ἰδεῶν Squire.

138

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 374

beside Plenty while he was asleep, and having become
pregnant by him, gave birth to Love, who is of a mixed
and utterly variable nature, inasmuch as he is the son
of a father who is good and wise and self-sufficient in
all things, but of a mother who is helpless and without
means and because of want always clinging close to
another and always importunate over another. For
Plenty is none other than the first beloved and de-
sired, the perfect and self-sufficient ; and Plato calls
raw material Poverty, utterly lacking of herself in
the Good, but being filled from him and always
yearning for him and sharing with him. The World,
or Horus,” which is born of these, is not eternal nor
unaffected nor imperishable, but, being ever reborn,
contrives to remain always young and never subject
to destruction in the changes and cycles of events.

58. We.must not treat legend as if it were history
at all, but we should adopt that which is appropriate
in each legend in accordance with its verisimilitude.
Whenever, therefore, we speak of material we must
not. be swept away to the opinions of some philo-
sophers,’ and conceive of an inanimate and indiffer-
entiated body, which is of itself inert and inactive.
The fact is that we call oil the material of perfume
and gold the material of a statue, and these are not
destitute of all differentiation. We provide the very
soul and thought of Man as the basic material of
understanding and virtue for Reason to adorn and to
harmonize, and some have declared the Mind to be
a place for the assembling of forms and for the im-
pression of concepts, as it were.°

a Cf. 373 D, supra.
b of. 370 F, supra, and Diogenes Laertius, vii. 134.
e Cf Aristotle, De Anima, iii. 4 (429 a 27).
139

375

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

"E; δὲ . . ΄ - 4 κ] ὃ +
νιοι δὲ καὶ τὸ σπέρμα τῆς γυναικὸς où δύναμιν
993 > Ἓ + . . . a >
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δοξάζουσιν. ὧν ἐχομένους χρὴ καὶ τὴν θεὸν ταύτην
οὕτω διανοεῖσθαι τοῦ πρώτου θεοῦ μεταλαγχάνου-
σαν ἀεὶ καὶ συνοῦσαν ἔρωτι τῶν περὶ ἐκεῖνον
> ~ λ - 3 ε 2 > + ο
ἀγαθῶν καὶ καλῶν, οὐχ ὑπεναντίαν ἀλλ ὥσπερ
/ ~. -
ἄνδρα νόμιμον καὶ δίκαιον ἐρᾶν ἂν δικαίως συνῇ
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ὅμως ποθεῖν λέγομεν, οὕτως ἀεὶ γλιχομένην ἐκείνου
καὶ περὶ ἐκεῖνον λιπαροῦσαν᾽ καὶ ἀναπιμπλαμένην
- +
τοῖς κυριωτάτοις μέρεσιν καὶ καθαρωτάτοις-
τ 5 e ` / - 3 /
(59.) ὅπου δ᾽ ὁ Γυφὼν παρεμπίπτει τῶν ἐσχάτων
ἁπτόμενος, ἐνταῦθα δοκοῦσαν ἐπισκυθρωπάζειν καὶ
- y /
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δεχομένην τὰ φθειρόμενα καὶ ἀποκρύπτουσαν,
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Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἄστροις λόγοι καὶ εἴδη
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καὶ ἀπορροαὶ τοῦ θεοῦ μένουσι, τὰ δὲ τοῖς παθη-
- “~ + - .
τικοῖς διεσπαρμένα, γῇ καὶ θαλάττῃ καὶ φυτοῖς καὶ
ζῴοις, διαλυόμενα" καὶ φθειρόμενα καὶ θαπτόμενα,
πολλάκις" αὖθις ἐκλάμπει καὶ ἀναφαίνεται ταῖς γενέ-
σεσι. διὸ τὸν Τυφῶνα τῇ Νέφθυϊ συνοικεῖν φησιν
ὁ μῦθος, τὸν δ᾽ "Όσιρι κρύφα συγγενέσθαι. τὰ
` s va - a a / ` 4
γὰρ ἔσχατα µέρη τῆς ὕλης, ἃ Νέφθυν καὶ Τελευτὴν
καλοῦσιν, ἡ φθαρτικὴ μάλιστα κατέχει δύναμις'

1 ἂν δικαίως συνῇ Bernardakis, ef. 448 x: ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ.
2 λιπαροῦσαν Markland: παροῦσαν.
3 ὦνπερ F.C.B.; οἶσπερ Schwartz: ὥσπερ.
4 διαλνόµενα Baxter: διαλεγόµενα.
5 πολλάκις Markland: καπολλάκις.

140

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 374-375

Some think the seed of Woman is not a power or
origin, but only material and nurture of generation.*
To this thought we should cling fast and conceive that
this Goddess also who participates always with the
first God and is associated with him in the love? of
the fair and lovely things about him is not opposed
to him, but, just as we say that an honourable and
just man is in love if his relations are just, and a good
woman who has a husband and consorts with him we
say yearns for him; thus we may conceive of her as
always clinging close to him and being importunate
over him and constantly filled with the most domi-
nant and purest principles. (59.) But where Typhon
forces his way in and seizes upon the outermost areas,
there we may conceive of her as seeming sad, and
spoken of as mourning, and that she seeks for the
remains and scattered members of Osiris and arrays
them, receiving and hiding away the things perish-
able, from which she brings to light again the things
that are created and sends them forth from herself.

The relations and forms and effluxes of the God
abide in the heavens and in the stars ; but those things
that are distributed in susceptible elements, earth
and sea and plants and animals, suffer dissolution and
destruction and burial, and oftentimes again shine
forth and appear again in their generations. For this
reason the fable has it that Typhon cohabits with
Nephthys ¢ and that Osiris has secret relations with
herf; for the destructive power exercises special
dominion over the outermost part of matter which
they call Nephthys or Finality. But the creating

a Cf. Moralia, 651 c, and 905 c.
> Cf. 372 £, and 383 a, infra.
ο Cf. 356 a, supra. ἆ Cf. the note on 356 τ, supra.
e Cf. 355 F and 366 5, supra.
141

PLUTARCH’S MORALES .

(916) ἡ δὲ γόνιμος καὶ σωτήριος ἀσθενὲς σπέρμα καὶ
0 ἀμαυρὸν εἰς ταῦτα διαδίδωσιν, ἀπολλύμενον' ὑπὸ
τοῦ Τυφῶνος, πλὴν ὅσον ἡ Ἶσις ὑπολαμβάνουσα
σῴζει καὶ τρέφει καὶ συνίστησι.
ae + a F
60. Καθόλου δ᾽ ἀμείνων οὗτός ἐστιν, ὥσπερ καὶ
~ a3 - -
Πλάτων ὑπονοεῖ καὶ Αριστοτέλης. κινεῖται δὲ τῆς
φύσεως τὸ μὲν γόνιμον καὶ σωτήριον ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν καὶ
πρὸς τὸ εἶναι, τὸ δ᾽ ἀναιρετικὸν καὶ φθαρτικὸν ἆ ἀπ
αὐτοῦ καὶ πρὸς τὸ μὴ εἶναι. διὸ τὸ μὲν Ἶσιν κα-
~ >
λοῦσι παρὰ τὸ ἵεσθαι per ἐπιστήμης καὶ φέρεσθαι,
κίνησιν οὖσαν ἔμψυχον καὶ φρόνιμον. οὐ γάρ ἐστι
3; fa 3 > ο A ~ ~
τοὔνομα βαρβαρίκον, ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ τοῖς θεοῖς πᾶσιν
ἀπὸ δυοῖν ῥημάτων" τοῦ θεατοῦ καὶ τοῦ θέοντος
D ἔστιν ὄνομα. κοινόν, οὕτω τὴν θεὸν ταύτην ἀπὸ τῆς
ἐπιστήμης ἅμα καὶ τῆς κινήσεως "low μὲν ἡμεῖς,
Ἶσιν δ᾽ Αἰγύπτιοι καλοῦσιν. οὕτω δὲ καὶ Πλάτων
` 4 3 ’ 4 δ À ~ A: ΄ ἐς 3 [4 5
φησὶ τὴν οὐσίαν' δηλοῦν τοὺς παλαιούς ''ἰσίαν
4
καλοῦντας: οὕτω καὶ τὴν νόησιν καὶ τὴν dpdvnow,
- /
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μένου, καὶ τὸ" συνιέναι καὶ τἀγαθὸν ὅλως. καὶ ἀρε-
ΠῚ a 3. εν) 7 vor r ,
τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀεὶ ῥέουσιῖ καὶ θέουσι θέσθαι" καθάπερ
ion {λ A 3 - > fa -
αὖ πάλιν τοῖς ἀντιφωνοῦσιν ὀνόμασι λοιδορεῖσθαι
` Ες . Ἀ 7 3 / ` ΄ ν
τὸ κακόν; τὸ τὴν φύσιν ἐμποδίζον καὶ συνδέον καὶ
1 ἀπολλύμενον Bentley : : ἀπολλυμένη Or -μένους.
ἀπ᾽ Squire: ὑπ᾽.
5 ῥημάτων Markland: γραμμάτων.
4 οὐσίαν Baxter from Plato, Cratylus, 401 ο: ὁσίαν.
5 ἰσίαν] ἐσσίαν or ἐσίαν in Plato, ibid.

5 τὸ Baxter: τοῦ.
1 ἀεὶ ῥέουσι Goodwin from Plato, Cratylus, 415D: εὐροῦσι.

142

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 375

and conserving power distributes to this only a weak
and feeble seed, which is destroyed by Typhon,
except so much as Isis takes up and preserves and
fosters and makes firm and strong.*

60. In general this god is the better, as both Plato
and Aristotle conceive. The creative and conserving
element of Nature moves toward him and toward
existence while the annihilating and destructive
moves away from him towards non-existence. For
this reason they call Isis by a name derived from
“ hastening ” (kiemai) with understanding,® or being
borne onward (pheromat), since she is an animate and
intelligent movement ; for the name is not a foreign
name, but, just as all the gods have a name in
common 5 derived from two words, “ visible ” (theaton)
and “rushing ” (theon), in the same way this goddess,
from her understanding ὃ and her movement, we call
Isis and the Egyptians call her Isis. So also Plato ὁ
says that the πιεη οἳ ancient times made clear the
meaning of “ essence ” (ousia) by calling it “ sense ”’
(sia). So also he speaks of the intelligence and
understanding as being a carrying and movement
of mind hasting and being carried onward; and also
comprehension and good and virtue they attribute
to those things which are ever flowing and in rapid
motion, just as again, on the other hand, by means of
antithetical names they vilified evil: for example, that
which hinders and binds fast and holds and checks

a Cf. 356 F, supra,
5 Cf. 961 F, supra.

e Cf. Plato, Cratylus, 397 pv
@ Ibid. 401 c

8 τὸ κακόν Wyttenbach from Plato, Cratylus, 415 σ: τῶν
κατα.

143

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

~ \
(375) ἴσχον καὶ κωλῦον ἵεσθαι καὶ ἰέναι κακίαν ἀπορίαν
δειλίαν ἀνίαν προσαγορεύοντας +
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O δ᾽ "Όσιρις ἐκ τοῦ ὁσίου καὶ’ ἱεροῦ τοὔνομα
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/ P 4 2 v ve / Η
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/ A 4 3 a f
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προσήκων. διὸ καὶ θύουσιν αὐτῷ τὸ μὲν λευκὸν
ἀλεκτρυόνα, τὸ δὲ κροκίαν, τὰ μὲν εἰλικρινῆ καὶ
φανά, τὰ δὲ μεικτὰ καὶ ποικίλα νομίζοντες.
3 a A £ - > ΄ bt ? k9
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“Ἑλληνικὸν ἀνάπλασιν" καὶ γὰρ ἄλλα μυρία τοῖς
μεθισταμένοις è ἐκ τῆς “Ελλάδος συνεκπεσόντα μέχρι
Ενῦν παραμένει καὶ ξενιτεύει παρ᾽ ἑτέροις, ὧν ἔνια
τὴν ποιητικὴν ἀνακαλουμένην διαβάλλουσιν ὡς
βαρβαρίζουσαν | ot γλώττας τὰ τοιαῦτα προσ-
αγορεύοντες. ἐν δὲ ταῖς Ἑρμοῦ λεγομέναις βίβλοις
ἱστοροῦσι. γεγράφθαι | περὶ τῶν ἱερῶν ὀνομάτων, ὅτι
τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς τοῦ ἡλίου περιφορᾶς τεταγμένην
D 3 3 ~
δύναμιν ρον, Ἕλληνες δ᾽ ᾿Απόλλωνα καλοῦσι"
τὴν δ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῦ πνεύματος of μὲν Ὄσιριν, οἱ δὲ
1 προσαγορεύοντας Reiske: προσαγορευόντων.
7 ακαὶ added in the Aldine ed.
8 ἔθος added by Markland.
£ λόγος "Άνουβις Reiske: ἄνουβις λόγος.

δ τὸ μὲν... τὸ δὲ Reiske: τὸν μέν. . τὸν δὲ.
6 τὰ τοιαῦτα Xylander: τὰς τοιαύτας.

“a Cf. 376 v, infra. It is impossible to reproduce these
fanciful derivations in an English translation. Most of them
may be found in Plato, Cratylus, 401 c-415 x. Note that
Plutarch would connect the abstract suffix -ia with the
shorter stem of εἶμι “‘ go.”

144

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 375

Nature from hasting and going they called baseness,
or “ill-going”’ (kak-ta), and helplessness or “ diffi-
culty of going ” (apor-ia), and cowardice or “ fear of
going” (deil-ia), and distress or “not going” (an-ia).4

61. Osiris has a name made up from “ holy” (hosion)
and “ sacred ” (hieron)®; for he is the combined rela-
tion of the things in the heavens and in the lower
world, the former of which it was customary for
people of olden time to call sacred and the latter to
call holy. But the relation which discloses the things
in the heavens and belongs to the things which tend
upward is sometimes named Anubis and sometimes
Hermanubis° as belonging in part.to the things above
and in part to the things below.? For this reason
they sacrifice to him on the one hand a white cock
and on the other hand one of saffron colour, regarding
the former things as simple and clear, and the others
as combined and variable.

There is no occasion to be surprised at the re-
vamping of these words into Greek.* The fact is that
countless other words went forth in company with
those who migrated from Greece, and persist even to
this day as strangers in strange lands ; and, when the
poetic art would recall some of these into use, those
who speak of such words as strange or unusual falsely
accuse it of using barbarisms. Moreover, they record
that 1η the so-called books of Hermes it is written in
regard to the sacred names that they call the power
which is assigned to direct the revolution of the Sun
Horus, but the Greeks call it Apollo ; and the power
assigned to the wind some call Osiris and others

Cf. 382 £, infra.
‘Porphyry in Eusebius, Praepar. Evang. iii, 11. 2.
Cf. 368 £, supra. e Of. 362 D-E, supra,
145

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

e - 3 £:
376 Σάραπιν. ἡ δὲ Σῶθις Αἰγυπτιστί σημαίνει κύη-
ow ἢ τὸ κυεῖν' διὸ καὶ παρατροπῆς γενομένης τοῦ
4 7
ὀνόματος “Ἑλληνιστὶ κύων κέκληται τὸ ἄστρον,
ὅπερ ἴδιον τῆς Ἴσιδος νομίζουσιν. ἥκιστα μὲν οὖν
δεῖ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι περὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ
ἄλλ e , 3 ΛΑ a >> / At | ee
μᾶλλον ὑφείμην᾽ ἂν' τοῦ Σαράπιδος Αἰγυπτίοις
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ἢ τοῦ ᾿Οσίριδος, ἐκεῖνο μὲν" ξενικόν, τοῦτο δ᾽
t AÀ t y δ᾽ κ. | 8 ~ . lal ὃ [4
Ἑλληνικόν, ἄμφω δ᾽ ἑνὸς θεοῦ καὶ μιᾶς δυνάμεως
ἡγούμενος.
” A ’ 4 ` 3. + A `
62. "Ἔοικε δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὰ Αἰγύπτια. τὴν μὲν
A 1 AA F ~ ~ >A - > F λοῦ
γὰρ Ἶσιν πολλάκις τῷ τῆς ᾿Αθηνᾶς ὀνόματι καλοῦσι
φράζοντι τοιοῦτον λόγον “ ἦλθον ἀπ᾽ ἐμαυτῆς,᾽
B ὅπερ ἐστὶν αὐτοκινήτου φορᾶς δηλωτικόν: ὁ δὲ
Τυφών, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, Σὴθ καὶ Βέβων καὶ Σμὺ
ὀνομάζεται, βίαιόν τινα καὶ κωλυτικὴν ἐπίσχεσιν 7°
ὑπεναντίωσιν ἢ ἀναστροφὴν ἐμφαίνειν βουλομένων
τῶν ὀνομάτων.
Ἔτι τὴν σιδηρῖτιν λίθον ὀστέον Ὥρου, Τυφῶνος
δὲ τὸν σίδηρον, ὡς ἱστορεῖ Μανεθώς,' καλοῦσιν:
[4 . ε ΄ Ε Y e rd y
ὥσπερ yàp ὁ σίδηρος πολλάκις μὲν ἑλκομένῳ καὶ
e $ κ . ’ σ , 3 Fa 3
ἑπομένῳ πρὸς τὴν λίθον ὅμοιός ἐστι, πολλάκις ὃ
2 ’ a
ἀποστρέφεται καὶ ἀποκρούεται πρὸς τοὐναντίον,
οὕτως ἡ σωτήριος καὶ ἀγαθὴ καὶ λόγον ἔχουσα τοῦ
κόσμου κίνησις ἐπιστρέφει more’ καὶ προσάγεται
ϱ καὶ μαλακωτέραν" ποιεῖ, πείθουσα τὴν σκληρὰν"
1 ἠδέ F.C.B.: οἱ δὲ,
Σῶθις F.C.B.: σωθὶ.
ὑφείμην Bentley: ὑφιεμένην.
ἂν Emperius.
μὲν Markland: μὲν οὖν.
ἢ added by F.C.B. (ἤ rev’ Pohlenz).
Μανεθώς Squire: µάνεθος.

ἐπιοτρέφει ποτὲ F.C.B.: ἐπιστρέφει τότε in one ΜΒ., ἐπι-
στρέφεταί τε in the rest.

146

το

aona u

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 376

Serapis ; and Sothis in Egyptian signifies “ preg-
nancy ” (eyests) or ' to be pregnant” (cyein) : there-
fore in Greek, with a change of accent,” the star is
called the Dog-star (Cyon), which they regard as the
special star of Isis? Least of all is there any need
of being very eager in learning about these names.
However, I would rather make a concession to the
Egyptians in regard to Serapis than in regard to
Osiris ; for I regard Serapis as foreign, but Osiris as
Greek, and both as belonging to one god and one
power.

62. Like these also are the Egyptian beliefs ; for
they oftentimes call Isis by the name of Athena,
expressive of some such idea as this, “I came of
myself,” which is indicative of self-impelled motion.
Typhon, as has been said,¢ is named Seth and Bebon
and Smu, and these names would indicate some forcible
and preventive check or opposition or reversal.4

Moreover, they call the loadstone the bone of Horus,
and iron the bone of Typhon, as Manetho® records.
For, as the iron oftentimes acts as if it were being
attracted and drawn toward the stone, and often-
times is rejected and repelled in the opposite direction,
in the same way the salutary and good and rational
movement of the world at one time, by persuasion,
attracts and draws toward itself and renders more

5 Plutarch attempts to connect κύων, “ dog,” with κυῶν,
the present participle of κυῶ, '' to be pregnant.”

δ Cf. 359 cx and 365 F, supra.

5 367 Ὁ and 371 g, supra.

3 Cf. 371 B, supra. e Frag. ΤΊ.

5 μαλακωτέραν Reiske: μαλακώτερον.
10 σκληρὰν... τυφώνειον Markland: σκληρίαν . . . τυφώνιον.

147

PLUTARCH’S ΜΟΒΔΙΙΑ

> a 3
(376) ἐκείνην καὶ τυφώνειον, εἶτ᾽ αὖθις ἀνασχεθεῖσα eis
ἑαυτὴν ἀνέστρεψε' καὶ κατέδυσεν εἰς τὴν ἀπορίαν.
Ἔτι φησὶ περὶ τοῦ Διὸς ὁ Εὔδοξος μυθολογεῖν
Αὐγυπτίους, ὡς τῶν σκελῶν συμπεφυκότων αὐτῷ
` Z s ς 3 ? z 393 9 /
μὴ δυνάμενος βαδίζειν, ὑπ᾽ αἰσχύνης ἐν’ ἐρημίᾳ
- - +
διέτριβεν: ἡ δ᾽ Ἶσις διατεμοῦσα καὶ διαστήσασα
τὰ μέρη ταῦτα τοῦ σώματος ἀρτίποδα τὴν πορείαν
παρέσχεν. αἰνίττεται δὲ καὶ διὰ τούτων ὁ μῦθος
ε/ > ~ A A . ld Η
ὅτι καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ νοῦς καὶ λόγος ἐν
a 3 / νο a ` > L 3 τν A
τῷ ἀοράτῳ καὶ ἀφανεῖ βεβηκὼς εἰς γένεσιν' ὑπὸ
κινήσεως προῆλθεν.
63. ᾿Εμφαίνει καὶ τὸ σεῖστρον, ὅτι σείεσθαι δεῖ
x Y λ ES / - 3 3 ka
τὰ ὄντα καὶ μηδέποτε παύεσθαι. φορᾶς, ἀλλ᾽ οἷον
ἐξεγείρεσθαι καὶ κλονεῖσθαι καταδαρθάνοντα καὶ
Ὁ μαραινόμενα. τὸν γὰρ Τυφῶνά φασι τοῖς σείστροις
ἀποτρέπειν καὶ ἀποκρούεαθαι δηλοῦντες ὅτι τῆς
φθορᾶς συνδεούσης καὶ ἱστάσης, αὖθις ἀναλύει τὴν
φύσιν καὶ ἀνίστησι διὰ τῆς κινήσεως ἡ γένεσις.
- - ~ EA
Τοῦ δὲ σείστρου περιφεροῦς ἄνωθεν ὄντος, ἡ
ἀψὶς' περιέχει τὰ σειόμενα τέτταρα. καὶ γὰρ ἡ
γεννωμένη καὶ φθειρομένη μοῖρα τοῦ κόσμου rept-
ἔχεται μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς σεληνιακῆς σφαίρας, κινεῖται δ᾽
ἐν αὐτῇ πάντα καὶ μεταβάλλεται διὰ τῶν τεττάρων
στοιχείων, πυρὸς καὶ γῆς καὶ ὕδατος καὶ ἀέρος.
τῇ δ᾽ ἀφῖδι τοῦ σείστρου κατὰ κορυφὴν ἐντορεύου-
Ἐ σιν αἴλουρον ἀνθρώπου πρόσωπον ἔχοντα, κάτω δ᾽
e . . / ~ . y A y /
ὑπὸ τὰ σειόµενα πῇ μὲν Ἴσιδος πῇ δὲ Νέφθυος
πρόσωπον, αἰνιττόμενοι τοῖς μὲν προσώποις γένεσιν
A ae , 3 -
καὶ τελευτήν (αὗται γάρ εἰσι τῶν στοιχείων pera~
1 ἀνέστρεφε] ἀπέστρεψε Holwerda.
2 ἐν added by Wyttenbach,
3 γένεσιν] γέννησιν Hartman. 4 ἀψὶς Aldine ed.: ὄψις.

148

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 376

gentle that harsh and Typhonian movement, and then
again it gathers itself together and reverses it and
plunges it into difficulties.

Moreover, Eudoxus says that the Egyptians have
a mythical tradition in regard to Zeus that, because
his legs were grown together, he was not able to
walk, and so, for shame, tarried in the wilderness ;
but Isis, by severing and separating those parts of his
body, provided him with means of rapid progress.
This fable teaches by its legend that the mind and
reason of the god, fixed amid the unseen and in-
visible, advanced to generation by reason of motion.

63. The sistrum (rattle) also makes it clear that
all things in existence need to be shaken, or rattled
about, and never to cease from motion but, as it were,
to be waked up and agitated when they grow drowsy
and torpid. They say that they avert and repel
Typhon by means of the sistrums, indicating thereby
that when destruction constricts and checks Nature,
generation releases and arouses it by means of motion."

The upper part of the sistrum is circular and its
circumference contains the four things that are
shaken ; for that part of the world which undergoes
reproduction and destruction is contained underneath
the orb of the moon, and all things in it are subjected
to motion and to change through the four elements :
fire, earth, water, and air. At the top of the circum-
ference of the sistrum they construct the figure of a
cat with a human face, and at the bottom, below the
things that are shaken, the face of Isis on one side,
and on the other the face of Nephthys. By these
faces they symbolize birth and death, for these are
the changes and movements of the elements ; and by

5 Cf. 375 s, supra.
149

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

Bodal καὶ κινήσεις), τῷ δ᾽ αἰλούρῳ τὴν σελήνην διὰ
τὸ ποικίλον καὶ νυκτουργὸν καὶ γόνιμον τοῦ θηρίου.
λέγεται γὰρ ἓν τίκτειν, εἶτα δύο καὶ τρία καὶ τέσ-
capa καὶ πέντε: καὶ καθ êv οὕτως ἄχρι τῶν ἑπτὰ
προστίθησιν, ὥστ᾽ ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσι τὰ πάντα τί-
κτειν, ὅσα καὶ τῆς σελήνης φῶτ᾽ ἔστιν. τοῦτο μὲν
F οὖν ἴσως μυθωδέστερον- αἱ δ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ὄμμασι» αὐτοῦ
κόραι πληροῦσθαι μὲν καὶ πλατύνεσθαι δοκοῦσι ἐν
πανσελήνῳ, λεπτύνεσθαι δὲ καὶ μαραυγεῖν ἐν ταῖς

LA - 3, 3 3 / A
ειώσεσι τοῦ ἄστρου. τῷ δ᾽ ἀνθρωπομόρφῳ τοῦ
αἰλούρου τὸ νοερὸν καὶ λογικὸν ἐμφαίνεται τῶν
"περὶ τὴν σελήνην μεταβολῶν.
64. Συνελόντι. δ᾽ εἰπεῖν οὔθ᾽ ὕδωρ οὔθ᾽ ἥλιον
v A :4 3 3 4 ” | > > ~ Y
οὔτε γῆν οὔτ᾽ οὐρανὸν "Όσιριν ἢ "low ὀρθῶς ἔχει
F N A - ΄ y 3 3 . > .
νομίζειν, οὔτε πῦρ Τυφῶνα πάλι οὔτ᾽ αὐχμὸν οὐδὲ
θάλατταν, ἀλλ᾽ ἁπλῶς ὅσον ἐστὶν ἐν τούτοις ᾱ-
\ oo» e - A 3 / m
377 µετρον καὶ ἄτακτον ὑπερβολαῖς ἢ ἐνδείαις Τυφῶνι
προσνέμοντες, τὸ δὲ κεκοσμημένον καὶ ἀγαθὸν καὶ
ὠφέλιμον ὡς Ἴσιδος μὲν ἔργον εἰκόνα δὲ καὶ pi-
pnpa καὶ λόγον Ὀσίριδος σεβόμενοι καὶ τιμῶντες,
3 Ἂ e / ἀλλὰ $ A Evs
οὐκ ἂν ἁμαρτάνοιμεν. à καὶ τὸν Εὔδοξον
ἀπιστοῦντα παύσομεν καὶ διαποροῦντα πῶς οὔτε
Δήμητρι τῆς τῶν ἐρωτικῶν ἐπιμελείας μέτεστιν
2112 » , 1 / > \ a p
ἀλλ᾽ Ἴσιδι, τό τε' Διόνυσον où τὸν Νεῖλον αὔξειν
οὔτε τῶν τεθνηκότων ἄρχειν δύνασθαι." ἑνὶ γὰρ
λόγῳ κοινῷ τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους περὶ πᾶσαν ἆγα-
θοῦ μοῖραν ἡγούμεθα τετάχθαι, καὶ πᾶν ὅσον ἔνεστι
1 τότε E. Capps: τόν τε.
y 3 δύνασθαι Helmbold : δυνάµενον.

a Cf. Photius, Bibliotheca, 242 (p. 343 a 5 ed. Bekker).
> Cf. 367 D, supra.

150

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 376-377

the cat they symbolize the moon because of the varied
colouring, nocturnal activity, and fecundity of the
animal. For the cat is said to bring forth first one,
then two and three and four and five, thus increasing
the number by one until she reaches seven," so that
she brings forth in all twenty-eight, the number also
of the moon’s illuminations. Perhaps, however, this
may seem somewhat mythical. But the pupils in the
eye of the cat appear to grow large and round at the
time of full moon, and to become thin and narrow at
the time of the wanings of that heavenly body. By
the human features of the cat is indicated the intelli-
gence and the reason that guides the changes of the
moon.®

64. To put the matter briefly, it is not right to
believe that water or the sun or the earth or the sky
is Osiris or Isis 5; or again that fire or drought or the
sea is Typhon, but simply if we attribute to Typhon 4
whatever there is in these that is immoderate and
disordered by reason of excesses or defects ; and if
we revere and honour what is orderly and good and
beneficial as the work of Isis and as the image and
reflection and reason of Osiris, we shall not be wrong.
Moreover, we shall put a stop to the incredulity of
Eudoxus’ and his questionings how it is that Demeter
has no share in the supervision of love affairs, but
Isis has ; and the fact that Dionysus cannot cause
the Nile to rise, nor rule over the dead. For by
one general process of reasoning do we come to
the conclusion that these gods have been assigned
to preside over every portion of what is good ;
and whatever there is in nature that is fair and

5 Cf. 363 p and 364 D, supra,
3 Cf. 364 a and 369 a, supra. e. Frag. 63.

151

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

$
(377) τῇ φύσει καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν διὰ τούτους ὑπάρχειν,
τὸν μὲν διδόντα τὰς ἀρχάς, τὴν δ᾽. ὑποδεχομένην
B καὶ διανέµουσαν.
65. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ φορτικοῖς ἐπι-
χειρήσομεν, εἴτε ταῖς καθ᾽ ὥραν μεταβολαῖς τοῦ
- / ` -
περιέχοντος εἴτε ταῖς καρπῶν γενέσεσι και σποραῖς
καὶ ἀρότοις χαίρουσι τὰ περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς τούτους!
συνοικειοῦντες, καὶ λέγοντες θάπτεσθαι μὲν τὸν
” 2 - - 3
Οσιριν, ὅτε κρύπτεται τῇ yh σπειρόµενος ὁ kap-
/ 5 > 9 a ed ΄ o
πός, αὖθις δ᾽ ἀναβιοῦσθαι καὶ ἀναφαίνεσθαι, ὅτε
βλαστήσεως ἀρχή. διὸ καὶ λέγεται" τὴν Ἶσιν
αἰσθομένην ὅτι kue? περιάφασθαι φυλακτήριον ἕκτῃ
. τ / Ῥ / ` ` e
μηνὸς ἱσταμένου Φαωφί' τίκτεσθαι δὲ τὸν ‘Apro-
C κράτην περὶ τροπὰς χειμερινὰς ἀτελῆ καὶ νεαρὸν
ἐν τοῖς προανθοῦσι καὶ προ λαστάνουσι. διὸ καὶ.
φακῶν αὐτῷ φυομένων ἀπαρχὰς ἐπιφέρουσι, τὰς
δὲ λοχείους ἡμέρας ἑορτάζειν μετὰ τὴν ἐαρινὴν
ἰσημερίαν. ταῦτα γὰρ ἀκούοντες ἀγαπῶσι καί
πιστεύουσιν, αὐτόθεν ἐκ τῶν προχείρων καὶ συν-
ήθων τὸ πιθανὸν ἕλκοντες.
A . 3 la Ἂ - x E a 4
66. Kai δεινὸν οὐδέν, ἂν πρῶτον μὲν ἡμῖν τοὺς
θεοὺς φυλάττωσι κοινοὺς καὶ μὴ ποιῶσιν Αἰγυ-
’ λος A - wv κο 3, +
πτίων ἰδίους, μηδὲ Νεῖλον ἦν τε Νεῖλος ἄρδει μόνην
χώραν τοῖς ὀνόμασι τούτοις καταλαμβάνοντες, μηδ᾽
ἕλη μηδὲ λωτοὺς μόνην" θεοποιίαν λέγοντες dmo-
~ z - A y 5 ΄
στερῶσι μεγάλων θεῶν τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους, οἷς
D Νεῖλος μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδὲ Βοῦτος οὐδὲ Μέμφις:
τ .
Ίσιν δὲ καὶ τοὺς περὶ αὐτὴν θεοὺς ἔχουσι καὶ
1 ῃ 7, + 2 LA nA PE-S
τούτους] τούτοις Madvig: τῇ γῇ Bentley: τῆς γῆς.
5 λέγεται Strijd and F.C.B.: λέγεσθαι.
a udn F.C.B.: μή.
a Cf. 378 B, infra. > Cf. 358 D, supra.
152

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 377

good exists entirely because of them, inasmuch as
Osiris contributes the origins, and Isis receives them
and distributes them.

65. In this way we shall undertake to deal with the
numerous and tiresome people, whether they be such
as take pleasure in associating theological problems -
with the seasonal changes in the surrounding atmo-
‘phere, or with the growth of the crops and seed-
times and ploughing ; and also those who say that
Osiris is being buried at the time when the grain is
sown and covered in the earth-and that he comes to
life and reappears when plants begin to sprout. For
this reason also it is said that Isis, when she perceived
that she was pregnant, put upon herself an amulet on
the sixth day of the month Phaophi ; and about the
time of the winter solstice she gave birth to Harpo-
crates, imperfect and premature,’ amid the early
flowers and shoots. For this reason they bring to him
as an offering the first-fruits of growing lentils, and
the days of his birth they celebrate after the spring
equinox. When the people hear these things, they
are satisfied with them and believe them, deducing
the. plausible explanation directly from what is
obvious and familiar.

66. And there is nothing to fear if, in the first place,
they preserve for us our gods that are common to both
peoples and do not make them to belong to the
Egyptians only, and do not include under these names

- the Nile alone and the land which the Nile waters,
and do not assert that the marshes and the lotus are
the only work of God’s hand, and if they do not deny
the great gods to the rest of mankind that possess no
Nile nor Buto nor Memphis. But as for Isis, and the
gods associated with her, all peoples own them and are

158

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA |

(377) γιγνώσκουσιν ἅπαντες, ἐνίους μὲν οὐ πάλαι τοῖς
παρ᾽ Αἰγυπτίων ὀνόμασι καλεῖν μεμαθηκότες, ἑκά-
στου δὲ τὴν δύναμιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐπιστάμενοι καὶ
τιμῶντες.

Δεύτερον, ὃ μεῖζόν ἐστιν, ὅπως σφόδρα προσ-
έξουσι καὶ φοβήσονται, μὴ λάθωσω; εἰς πνεύματα
καὶ ῥεύματα καὶ σπόρους καὶ ἀρότους καὶ πάθη γῆς
καὶ μεταβολὰς ὡρῶν διαγράφοντες τὰ θεῖα καὶ
διαλύοντες- ὥσπερ οἱ Διόνυσον τὸν οἶνον, "Ἠφαιστον
δὲ τὴν φλόγα: Φερσεφόνην δέ φησί που Κλεάνθης

πὸ διὰ τῶν καρπῶν φερόμενον καὶ φονευόμενον
πνεῦμα. ποιητὴς δέ τις ἐπὶ τῶν θεριζόντων

τῆμος ὅτ᾽ αἰζηοὶ Δημήτερα κωλοτομεῦσιν.

E οὐδὲν yòp οὗτοι διαφέρουσι τῶν ἱστία καὶ κάλως"
καὶ ἄγκυραν ἡγουμένων κυβερνήτην, καὶ νήματα
καὶ κρόκας ὑφάντην, καὶ σπονδεῖον ἢ μελίκρατον ἢ
πτισάνην ἰατρόν- ἀλλὰ" δεινὰς καὶ ἀθέους ἐμποιοῦσι
δόξας, ἀναισθήτοις καὶ ἀψύχοις καὶ φθειρομέναις
ἀναγκαίως ὑπ᾽ ἀνθρώπων δεομένων καὶ χρωμένων
φύσεσι καὶ πράγμασιν ὀνόματα θεῶν. ἐπιφέροντες.

Tatra μὲν γὰρ αὐτὰ νοῆσαι θεοὺς οὐκ ἔστιν.

F (67.) οὐ γὰρ ἄνουν οὐδ᾽ ἄψυχον οὐδ”' ἀνθρώποις ὁ
γὰρ x p

᾿ θεὸς ὑποχείριον: ἀπὸ τούτων δὲ τοὺς χρωμένους
αὐτοῖς δωρουμένους ἡμῖν καὶ παρέχοντας ἀέναα καὶ
διαρκῆ θεοὺς ἐνομίσαμεν, οὐχ ἑτέρους παρ᾽ ἑτέροις
1 κάλως Xylander: κάλους.
2 ἀλλὰ] ἅμα δὲ Bentley.

3 ἄνουν Reiske: οὖν. 4 οὐδ᾽ added by Bentley.
sete ee ee ee gee
a Of. Moralia, T57 β-ο. b Frag. 547.

ο Of. The Life and Poetry o Homer, chap. xxiii. in Ber-
nardakis, vol. vii.

154.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 377

familiar with them, although they have learned not
so very long ago to call some of them by the names
which come from the Egyptians ; yet they have from
the beginning understood and honoured the power
which belongs to each one of them.

In the second place, and this is a matter of greater
importance, they should exercise especial heed and
caution lest they unwittingly erase and dissipate
things divine 5 into winds and streams and sowings
and ploughings, developments of the earth and
changes of the seasons, as do those who regard
wine as Dionysus and flame as Hephaestus. And
Cleanthes ὃ says somewhere that the breath of air
- which is carried (pheromenon) through the crops and
then suffers dissolution (phoneuwomenon) is Pherse-
phoné ; and a certain poet has written with reference
to the reapers,°

Then when the sturdy youth come to sever the limbs of

Demeter. ;

The fact is that these persons do not differ at all from
those who regard sails and ropes and anchor as a
pilot, warp and woof as a weaver, a cup or an honey
mixture or barley gruel as a physician. But they
create in men fearful atheistic opinions by confer-
ring the names of gods upon natural objects which
are senseless and inanimate, and are of necessity de-
stroyed by men when they need to use them.

It is impossible to conceive of these things as being
gods in themselves ; (67.) for God is not senseless nor
inanimate nor subject to human control. As a result
of this we have come to regard as gods those who
make use of these things and present them to us and
provide us with things everlasting and constant. Nor
do we think of the gods as different gods among

155

378

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

οὐδὲ βαρβάρους καὶ Ἕλληνας οὐδὲ νοτίους καὶ
βορείους" ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ ἥλιος καὶ ᾿ σελήνη καὶ οὐρανὸς
καὶ γῇ καὶ θάλαττα κοινὰ πᾶσιν, ὀνομάζεται δ᾽
ἄλλως ὑπ) ἄλλων, οὕτως ἑνὸς λόγου τοῦ ταῦτα
κοσμοῦντος καὶ μιᾶς προνοίας ἐπιτροπευούσης καὶ
δυνάμεων ὑπουργῶν, ἐπὶ πάντα! τεταγμένων, ἕτεραι
παρ᾽ ἑτέροις κατὰ νόμους γεγόνασι τιμαὶ καὶ προσ-
ηγορίαι: καὶ συμβόλοις χρῶνται καθιερωμένοις οἱ
μὲν" ἀμυδροῖς οἱ δὲ τρανοτέροις ἐπὶ τὰ θεῖα τὴν
νόησιν ὁδηγοῦντες οὖκ ἀκινδύνως. ἔνιοι γὰρ ἆπο-
σφαλέντες παντάπασιν εἰς δεισιδαιμονίαν ὤλισθον,
οἱ δὲ φεύγοντες ὥσπερ ἕλος" τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν
ἔλαθον αὖθις ὥσπερ εἷς κρημνὸν ἐμπεσόντες τὴν
ος.

Διὸ δεῖ μάλιστα πρὸς ταῦτα λόγον ἐκ
σπα μυσταγωγὸν ἀναλαβόντας ὁσίως δια-
νοεῖσθαι τῶν λεγομένων καὶ δρωμένων ἕκαστον,
ἵνα μή, καθάπερ Θεόδωρος εἶπε τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ
τῇ δεξιᾷ προτείνοντος ἐνίους τῇ ἀριστερᾷ δέχεσθαι
τῶν ἀκροωμένων, οὕτως. ἡμεῖς ἃ καλῶς. οὗ νόμοι
περὶ τὰς θυσίας καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς ἔταξαν ἑτέρως ὑπο-
λαμβάνοντες ἐξαμάρτωμεν. ὅτι γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸν λόγον
ἀνοιστέον ἅπαντα, καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων ἔστι
λαβεῖν. τῇ μὲν γὰρ ἐνάτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα τοῦ πρώτου
μηνὸς ο Aa τῷ Ἑρμῇ μέλι καὶ σῦκον

ἐσθίουσιν ἐπιλέγοντες, '' γλυκὺ ἡ ἀλήθεια.’ τὸ δὲ
- πάντα Markland: πάντας.

2 καθιερωμένοις οἱ μὲν Salmasius : καθιερωμένοι μὲν.
3 ἕλος Xylander: ἔδος ΟΥ ἔδος.

a See the note at the end of chapter 11 (355 υ, supra).
> Cf. Moralia, 467 B.

156

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 377-378

different peoples, nor as barbarian gods and Greek
gods, nor as southern and northern gods ; but, just as
the sun and the moon and the heavens and the earth
and the sea are common to all, but are called by
different names by different peoples, so for that one
rationality which keeps all these things in order and
the one Providence which watches over them and
the ancillary powers that are set over all, there have
arisen among different peoples, in accordance with
their customs, different honours and appellations.
Thus men make use of consecrated symbols, some
employing symbols that are obscure, but others those
that are clearer, in guiding the intelligence toward
things divine, though not without a certain hazard.
For some go completely astray and become engulfed
in superstition; and others, while they fly from
superstition 5 as from a quagmire, on the other hand
unwittingly fall, as it were, over a precipice into
atheism.

68. Wherefore in the study of these matters it is
especially necessary that we adopt, as our guide in
these mysteries, the reasoning that comes from
philosophy, and consider reverently each one of the
things that are said and done, so that, to quote
Theodorus,® who said that while he offered the good
word with his right hand some of his auditors received
it in their left, we may not thus err by accepting in a
different spirit the things that the laws have dictated
admirably concerning the sacrifices and festivals.
The fact that everything is to be referred to reason
we may gather from the Egyptians themselves ; for
on the nineteenth day of the first month, when they
are holding festival in honour of Hermes, they eat
honey and a fig; and as they eat they say, “A sweet

157

PLUTARCH’S.MORALIA

(378) τῆς ᾿Ισιδος φυλακτήριον, ὃ περιάπτεσθαι μυθο-
λογοῦσιν αὐτήν, ἐξερμηνεύεται ΄ “φωνὴ ἀληθής."
ο τὸν δ᾽ “Αρποκράτην οὔτε θεὸν ἀτελῆ καὶ νήπιον
οὔτε χεδρόπων" τινὰ νομιστέον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ περὶ
θεῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις λόγου νεαροῦ καὶ ἀτελοῦς καὶ
ἀδιαρθρώτου προστάτην καὶ σωφρονιστήν- διὸ τῷ
στόματι τὸν δάκτυλον ἔχει προσκείμενον ἐχεμυθίας
καὶ σιωπῆς σύμβολον- ἐν δὲ τῷ Μεσορὴ μηνὶ τῶν
χεδρόπων ἐπιφέροντες. λέγουσιν, “ “γλῶττα τύχη,
γλῶττα δαίμων." τῶν δ᾽ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ φυτῶν
μάλιστα τῇ θεῷ καθιερῶσθαι λέγουσι τὴν περσέαν,
ὅτι καρδίᾳ μὲν ὁ καρπὸς. αὐτῆς, γλώττῃ δὲ τὸ
φύλλον ἔοικεν. οὐδὲν γὰρ ὧν ἄνθρωπος. ἔχειν
πέφυκε θειότερον λόγου καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ περὶ θεῶν,
D οὐδὲ μείζονα ῥοπὴν ἔχει πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν. διὸ τῷ
μὲν els τὸ χρηστήριον ἐνταῦθα κατιόντι παρεγ-
γυῶμεν ὅσια φρονεῖν, εὔφημα! λέγειν. οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ
γελοῖα δρῶσιν ἐν παῖς πομπαῖς καὶ ταῖς ἑορταῖς
εὐφημίαν προκηρύττοντες, εἶτα περὶ τῶν θεῶν
αὐτῶν τὰ δυσφημότατα καὶ λέγοντες καὶ δια-
νοούμενοι.

60. Πῶς οὖν χρηστέον ἐστὶ ταῖς σκυθρωπαῖς καὶ
ἀγελάστοις καὶ πενθίμοις θυσίαις, εἰ μήτε παρα-
λείπειν" τὰ νενομισμένα καλῶς ἔχει μήτε φύρειν
τὰς περὶ θεῶν δόξας καὶ συνταράττειν ὑποψίαις
ἀτόποις; καὶ παρ᾽ Ἕλλησι; ὅ ΕΘΝ πολλὰ γίγνεται
περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ὁμοῦ τι χρόνον, οἷς Αἰγύπτιοι δρῶ-

ΤΧεδρόπων Emperius: χεδροπῶν.

3 εὔφημα Meziriacus: εὔσχημα.
3 παραλείπειν Bernardakis: παραλιπεῖν.

a Cf. 377 B, supra.
158

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 378

thing is Truth.” The amulet? of Isis, which they
traditionally assert that she hung about her neck, is
interpreted “a true voice.” And Harpocrates is not
to be regarded as an imperfect and an infant god,
nor some deity or other that protects legumes, but
as the representative and corrector of unséasoned,
imperfect, and inarticulate reasoning about the gods
among mankind. For this reason he keeps his finger
on his lips in token of restrained speech or silence.
In the month of Mesoré they bring to him an offering
of legumes and say, “ The tongue is luck, the tongue
is god.” Of the plants in Egypt they say that the
persea is especially consecrated to the goddess
because its fruit resembles a heart and its leaf a
tongue. The fact is that nothing of man’s usual
possessions is more divine than reasoning, especially
reasoning about the gods ; and nothing has a greater
influence toward happiness. For.this reason we give
instructions to anyone who comes down to the oracle
here to think holy thoughts and to speak words of
good omen. But the mass of mankind act ridiculously
in their processions and festivals in that they proclaim
at the outset the use of words of good omen,’ but later
they both say and think the most unhallowed thoughts
about the very gods.

69. How, then, are we to deal with their gloomy,
solemn, and mournful sacrifices, if it be not proper
either to omit the customary ceremonials or to con-
found and confuse our opinions about the gods by un-
warranted suspicions? Among the Greeks also many
things are done which are similar to the Egyptian
ceremonies in the shrines of Isis, and they do them at

> The regular proclamation (εὐφημεῖτε) used by the Greeks
at the beginning of any ceremony.
159

379 |

ῬΙΠΤΑΒΟΗ͂ 5 MORALIA

σιν ἐν τοῖς ᾿]σείοις: καὶ γὰρ ᾿Αθήνησι νηστεύουσιν
αἱ γυναῖκες ἐν Θεσμοφορίοις χαμαὶ καθήμεναι, καὶ
Ἠοιωτοὶ τὰ τῆς ᾿Αχαιᾶς μέγαρα κινοῦσιν' ἐπαχθῆ
τὴν ἑορτὴν ἐκείνην ὀνομάζοντες, ὡς διὰ τὴν τῆς
Κόρης κάθοδον ἐν ἄχει τῆς Δήμητρος οὔσης. ἔστι
δ᾽ ὁ μὴν οὗτος περὶ Πλειάδας σπόριμος, ὃν
᾿Αθὺρ Αἰγύπτιοι, Πυανεψιῶνα δ᾽ ᾿Αθηναῖοι, Βοιῶτοὶ
δὲ Δαμάτριον καλοῦσι. τοὺς δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέραν
οἰκοῦντας ἱστορεῖ Θεόπομπος ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ καλεῖν
τὸν μὲν χειμῶνα Κρόνον, τὸ δὲ θέρος ᾿Αφροδίτην,
τὸ δ᾽ ἔαρ Περσεφόνην, ἐκ δὲ Kpovov καὶ ᾿Αφρο-
δίτης γεννᾶσθαι πάντα. Φρύγες δὲ τὸν θεὸν oid-
μενοι χειμῶνος καθεύδειν, θέρους δ᾽ ἐγρηγορέναι,
τοτὲ μὲν κατευνασμούς, τοτὲ δ᾽ ἀνεγέρσεις
βακχεύοντες αὐτῷ τελοῦσι. Παφλαγόνες δὲ kara-
δεῖσθαι καὶ καθείργνυσθαι χειμῶνος, ἦρος δὲ κινεῖ-
σθαι καὶ ἀναλύεσθαι φάσκουσι.

m, rN ’ ε ‘ e F μα -

70. Kat δίδωσιν 6 καιρὸς ὑπόνοιαν ἐπὶ τῶν καρ-
πῶν τῇ ἀποκρύψει γενέσθαι τὸν σκυθρωπασμόν,
οὓς οἱ παλαιοὶ θεοὺς μὲν οὐκ ἐνόμιζον, ἀλλὰ δῶρα
θεῶν ἀναγκαῖα καὶ μεγάλα πρὸς τὸ μὴ ζῆν ἀγρίως
καὶ θηριωδῶς. «al? ἣν. δ᾽ ὥραν τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ"
δένδρων ἑώρων ἀφανιζομένους παντάπασιν καὶ
ἀπολείποντας, τοὺς δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ κατέσπειρον" ἔτι
γλίσχρως καὶ ἀπόρως, διαμώμενοι ταῖς χερσὶ τὴν

1 ]σείοις] ὁσίοις in most uss.

3 κινοῦσι] various emendations have been proposed, κενοῦ-
ow, κονιῶσιν, κλείουσιν, and one ΜΒ. seems to have κονοῦσιν,
but none makes the meaning clear.

3 Πλειάδας Nylander: πλειάδα.

3 ἀπὸ] ἀπὸ τῶν Reiske.

5 τοὺς Wyttenbach: οὓς.

* κατέσπειρον Nolwerda: κατὰ σπεῖραν or κατασπείραντες.

160

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 378-379

about the same time. At Athens the women fast at
the Thesmophoria sitting upon the ground ; and the
Boeotians move the halls of the Goddess of Sorrow
and name that festival the Festival of Sorrow,” since
Demeter is in sorrow because of her Daughter’s
descent to Pluto’s realm. This month, in the season
of the Pleiades, is the month of seeding which the
Egyptians call Athyr, the Athenians Pyanepsion, and
the Boeotians Damatrius.? Theopompus¢ records
that the people who live toward the west believe that
the winter is Cronus, the summer Aphrodité, and the
spring Persephoné, and that they call them by these
names and believe that from Cronus and Aphrodité
all things have their origin. The Phrygians, believ-
ing that the god is asleep in the winter and awake
in the summer, sing lullabies for him in the winter and
in the summer chants to arouse him, after the manner
of bacchic worshippers. The Paphlagonians assert
that in the winter he is bound fast and imprisoned,
but that in the spring he bestirs himself and sets
himself free again.

70. The season of the year also gives us a suspicion
that this gloominess is brought about because of the
disappearance from our sight of the crops and fruits
that people in days of old did not regard as gods, but
as necessary and important contributions of the gods
toward the avoidance of a savage and a bestial life.
At the time of year when they saw some of the fruits
vanishing and disappearing completely from the
trees, while they themselves were sowing others in
a mean and poverty-stricken fashion still, scraping

° Cf. Pausanias, ix. 8, 1, and Preller, Griechische Mytho-
logie’, i. 752, note 3; but the matter is very uncertain.
> The month sacred to Demeter. 5 Frag. 335.
161

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(379) γῆν καὶ περιστέλλοντες αὖθις, ἐπ᾽ ἀδήλῳ τῷ πάλιν
ἐκτελεῖσθαι καὶ συντέλειαν ἕξειν ἀποθέμενοι, πολλὰ
θάπτουσι νὅμοια καὶ πενθοῦσι; ἔπραττον. εἶθ᾽
[4 τ An ` 3 + 7 ΄ 3 A
ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς τὸν ὠνούμενον βιβλία Ἠλάτωνος ὠνεῖ-

ld 7 . / ς
σθαί φαμεν Πλάτωνα, καὶ Μένανδρον ὑποκρίνεσθαι
A 1 N M 1 δ / ὃ θέ 2 e
τὸν! τὰ Μενάνδρου ποιήματα διατιθέμενον,᾽ οὕτως
ἐκεῖνοι τοῖς τῶν θεῶν ὀνόμασι τὰ τῶν θεῶν δῶρα
Β καὶ ποιήματα καλεῖν οὐκ ἐφείδοντο, τιμῶντες ὑπὸ
χρείας καὶ σεμνύνοντες. οἱ δ᾽ ὕστερον ἀπαιδεύτως
δεχόμενοι καὶ ἀμαθῶς ἀναστρέφοντες ἐπὶ τοὺς
θεοὺς τὰ πάθη τῶν καρπῶν, καὶ τὰς παρουσίας τῶν
ἀναγκαίων καὶ ἀποκρύψεις θεῶν γενέσεις καὶ φθορὰς
οὐ προσαγορεύοντες μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ νομίζοντες,
/ £ A
ἀτόπων καὶ παρανόμων καὶ τεταραγμένων δοξῶν
αὐτοὺς ἐνέπλησαν, καίτοι τοῦ παραλόγου τὴν
ἀτοπίαν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἔχοντες. εὖ μὲν οὖν" Bevo-
f e £ ? f 4 +e ? a 3
φάνης 6 Κολοφώνιος ἠξίωσε' τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους, εἰ
0 θεοὺς νομίζουσι, μὴ θρηνεῖν, εἰ δὲ θρηνοῦσι, θεοὺς
μὴ νομίζειν. ἄλλο τι Ñ γελοῖον ἅμα θρηνοῦντας
εὔχεσθαι τοὺς καρποὺς πάλιν ἀναφαίνειν καὶ Te-
λειοῦν ἑαυτοῖς, ὅπως πάλιν ἀναλίσκωνται καὶ
- A 3 3 ” ~ 3 A

θρηνῶνται; (71.) τὸ δ᾽ οὐκ ἔστι τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ θρη-
νοῦσι μὲν τοὺς καρπούς, εὔχονται δὲ τοῖς αἰτίοις καὶ
δοτῆρσι θεοῖς ἑτέρους πάλιν νέους ποιεῖν καὶ ἆνα-
φύειν ἀντὶ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων. ὅθεν ἄριστα λέγεται

1 ὑποκρίνεσθαι τὸν in one MS.: τὸν ὑποκρίνεσθαι.
2 διατιθέμενον Wyttenbach: ὑποτιθέμενον.
3 εὖ μὲν οὖν Bernardakis: οὐ μόνον.
4 ἠξίωσε Wyttenbach : À ἑξῆς οἱ.
ὃ ἄλλοτι ἢ Κ.Ο.8.: ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι.

a Of. Diels, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 1.44, Xenophanes,
no. a 13; also Moralia, 171 D, 228 £, and 763 p; and Hera-
cleitus, no. Β 127 (Diels, i. 108).

162

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 379

away the earth with their hands and again replacing
it, committing the seeds to the ground with uncertain
expectation of their ever appearing again or coming
to fruition, they did many things like persons at a
funeral in mourning for their dead. Then again,
even as we speak of the man who buys the books of
Plato as “ buying Plato,” and of the man who repre-
sents the poems of Menander as “ acting Menander,”
even so those men of old did not refrain from calling
by the names of the gods the gifts and creations of
the gods, honouring and venerating them because of
the need which they had for them. The men of later
times accepted this blindly, and in their ignorance
referred to the gods the behaviour of the crops and
the presence and disappearance of necessities, not
only calling them the births and deaths of the gods,
but even believing that they are so; and thus they
filed their minds with absurd, unwarranted, and
confused opinions although they had before their
eyes the absurdity of such illogical reasoning.
Rightly did Xenophanes * of Colophon insist that the
Egyptians, if they believed these to be gods, should
not lament them; but if they lamented them, they
should not believe them to be gods. Is it anything
but ridiculous amid their lamentations to pray that
the powers may cause their crops to sprout again and
bring them to perfection in order that they again be
consumed and lamented? (71.) This is not quite the
case : but they do lament for their crops and they do
pray to the gods, who are the authors and givers, that
they produce and cause to grow afresh other new
crops to take the place of those that are undergoing
. destruction. Hence it is an excellent saying current

163

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(519) παρὰ τοῖς φιλοσόφοις τὸ τοὺς μὴ μανθάνοντας
ὀρθῶς ἀκούειν ὀνομάτων κακῶς χρῆσθαι καὶ τοῖς
πράγμασιν: ὥσπερ Ἑλλήνων of τὰ χαλκᾶ καὶ τὰ
γραπτὰ καὶ λίθινα μὴ μαθόντες μηδ᾽ ἐθισθέντες

D ἰγάλματα καὶ τιμὰς θεῶν, ἀλλὰ θεοὺς καλεῖν, εἶτα
τολμῶντες λέγειν, ὅτι τὴν ᾿Αθηνᾶν Λαχάρης ἐξ-
vec, τὸν δ᾽ Απόλλωνα χρυσοῦς βοστρύχους ἔχοντα
Διονύσιος ἀπέκειρεν, ὁ δὲ Ζεὺς ὁ Καπετώλιος περὶ
τὸν ἐμφύλιον πόλεμον ἐνεπρήσθη καὶ διεφθάρη,
λανθάνουσι᾽ συνεφελκόμενοῦ καὶ παραδεχόμενοι
δόξας πονηρὰς ἑπομένας τοῖς ὀνόμασιν.

Τοῦτο δ᾽ οὐχ ἥκιστα πεπόνθασιν Αἰγύπτιοι περὶ
τὰ τιμώμενα τῶν ζῴων. Ἕλληνες μὲν γὰρ ἔν γε
τούτοις λέγουσιν ὀρθῶς καὶ νομίζουσιν ἱερὸν ᾿Αϕρο-
δύτης ζῷον εἶναι τὴν περιστερὰν καὶ τὸν δράκοντα
τῆς ᾿Αθηνᾶς καὶ τὸν κόρακα τοῦ ᾿Απόλλωνος καὶ
τὸν κύνα τῆς ᾿Αρτέμιδος, ὡς Βὐριπίδης

E - Ἑκάτης ἄγαλμα φωσφόρου κύων ἔσῃ."

’ e 4 A a
Αἰγυπτίων δ᾽ of πολλοὶ θεραπεύοντες αὐτὰ τὰ ζῷα
καὶ περιέποντες ὡς θεοὺς οὐ γέλωτος μόνον οὐδὲ
χλευασμοῦ καταπεπλήκασι τὰς ἱερουργίας, ἀλλὰ
τοῦτο τῆς ἀβελτερίας ἐλάχιστόν ἐστι κακόν: δόξα

> - 3 z
δ᾽ ἐμφύεται δεινή, τοὺς μὲν ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ἀκάκους
+ -

εἷς ἄκρατον ὑπερείπουσα" τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν, τοῖς

1 λανθάνουσι Baxter: μανθάνουσι.

2 συνεφελκόμενοι Bernardakis: οὖν ἐφελκόμενοι.
3 ἔσῃ Xylander: ἐσσίν.
4 ὑπερείπουσα Reiske: ὑπερείδουσα.

a Cf. Moralia, 707 F.
è The gold was removed by him from the chryselephantine

164

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 379

among philosophers that they that have not learned
to interpret rightly the sense of words are wont to
bungle their actions.¢ For example, there are some
among the Greeks who have not learned nor habitu-
ated themselves to speak of the bronze, the painted,
and the stone effigies as statues of the gods and
dedications in their honour, but they call them gods ;
and then they have the effrontery to say that Lachares
stripped Athena,’ that Dionysius sheared Apollo of
the golden locks, and that Jupiter Capitolinus was
burned and destroyed in the Civil War, and thus
they unwittingly take over and accept the vicious
opinions that are the concomitants of these names.

This has been to no small degree the experience of
the Egyptians in regard to those animals that are held
inhonour. In these matters the Greeks are correct in
saying and believing that the dove is the sacred bird of
Aphrodité, that the serpent is sacred to Athena, the
raven to Apollo, and the dog to Artemis—as Euri-
pides 4 says,

Dog you shall be, pet of bright Hecaté.

But the great majority of the Egyptians, in doing .
service to the animals themselves and in treating them
as gods, have not only filled their sacred offices with
ridicule and derision, but this is the least of the evils
connected with their silly practices. There is engen-
dered a dangerous belief, which plunges the weak and
innocent into sheer superstition, and in the case of the

statue of Athena in the Parthenon; cf. W. B. Dinsmoor, Amer.
‘Journ. Arch. xxxviii. (1934) p. 97.

5 July 6, 83 B.c., according to Life of Sulla, chap. xxvii.
(469 s). The numerous references may be found in Roscher,
Lexikon der gr. und rém. Mythologie, ii. 714.

4 Nauck, Trag. Frag. Graec., Euripides, πο. 968.

165

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

δὲ δριμυτέροις καὶ θρασυτέροις εἰς ἀθέους ἐμ-
πίπτουσα καὶ θηριώδεις λογισμούς. ᾖν καὶ περὶ
τούτων τὰ εἰκότα διελθεῖν οὐκ ἀνάρμοστόν ἐστι.
72. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ εἰς ταῦτα τὰ ζῷα τοὺς θεοὺς
Ἐ τὸν Τυφῶνα δείσαντας μεταβαλεῖν, οἷον àro-
κρύπτοντας ἑαυτοὺς σώμασιν ἴβεων καὶ κυνῶν καὶ
ἱεράκων, πᾶσαν ὑπερπέπαικε τερατείαν καὶ µυθο-
λογίαν" καὶ τὸ ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν θανόντων ὅσαι
διαμένουσιν εἰς ταῦτα μόνα γίγνεσθαι τὴν παλιγ-
γενεσίαν ὁμοίως ἄπιστον. τῶν δὲ βουλομένων
πολιτικήν τινα .λέγειν αἰτίαν οἱ μὲν Ὄσιριν ἐν τῇ
μεγάλῃ στρατιᾷ φασιν εἰς μέρη πολλὰ διανεύµαντα
τὴν δύναμιν a λόχους καὶ τάξεις Ἑλληνικῶς"
καλοῦσιν, ἐπίσημα δοῦναι ζῳόμορφα πᾶσιν, ὧν
380 ἕκαστον τῷ; γένει τῶν συννεμηθέντων ἑερὸν ye-
νέσθαι καὶ τίμιον" οἱ δὲ τοὺς ὕστερον βασιλεῖς ἐκ-
πλήξεως ἕνεκα τῶν πολεμίων ἐπιφαίνεσθαι θηρίων
χρυσᾶς προτομὰς καὶ ἀργυρᾶς περιτιθεμένους-
ἄλλοι δὲ τῶνδε τῶν δεινῶν τινα καὶ πανούργων
βασιλέων ἡ ἱστοροῦσι τοὺς Αἰγυπτιους καταμαθόντα
τῇ μὲν φύσει κούφους καὶ πρὸς μετ. «βολὴν καὶ
νεωτερισμὸν ὀξυρρόπους ὄντας, ἄμαχον δὲ καὶ
δυσκάθεκτον ὑπὸ πλήθους δύναμιν ἐν τῷ συμ-
φρονεῖν" καὶ κοινοπραγεῖν ἔχοντας, ἀίδιον αὐτοῖς
ἐγκατασπεῖραι᾽ δείξαντα᾽ - δεισιδαιμονίαν, διαφορᾶς
B ἀπαύστου πρόφασιν. τῶν γὰρ θηρίων, ἃ προσ-

1 ᾗ Xylander: 3. ἃ added by Wyttenbach.
9 Ἑλληνικῶς X ας, ἑλληνικὰς. :
4 δοῦναι Markland: δοῦναι καὶ.
5 ἕκαστον τῷ Salmasius: ἑκάστῳ.
€ συμφρονεῖν ‘Markland: σωφρονεῖν.
ἐγκατασπεῖραι Meziriacus: ἐν κατασπορᾷ.

8 δείξαντα] διδάξαντα H. Richards,

166

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 379-380

more cynical and bold, goes off into atheistic and
brutish reasoning.” Wherefore it is not inappropriate
to rehearse in some detail what seem to be the facts
in these matters.

72. The notion that the gods, in fear of Typhon,
changed themselves into these animals,’ concealing
themselves, as it were, in the bodies of ibises, dogs,
and hawks, is a play of fancy surpassing all the wealth
of monstrous fable. The further notion that as many
of the souls of the dead as continue to exist are reborn
into these animals only is likewise incredible. Of
those who desire to assign to this some political reason
some relate that Osiris, on his great expedition,
divided his forces into many parts, which the Greeks
call squads and companies, and to them all he gave
standards in the form of animals, each of which came
to be regarded as sacred and precious by the descend-
ants of them who had shared in the assignment.
Others relate that the later kings, to strike their
enemies with terror, appeared in battle after putting
on gold and silver masks of wild beasts’ heads.
Others record that one of these crafty and unscrupu-
lous kings,’ having observed that the Egyptians
were by nature light-minded and readily inclined to
change and novelty, but that, because of their
numbers, they had a strength that was invincible and
very difficult to check when they were in their sober
senses and acted in concert, communicated to them
and planted among them an everlasting superstition,
a ground for unceasing quarrelling. For he enjoined

ʻa See the note on 355 υ, supra.
è Cf. Diodorus, i. 86. 3. e Ibid. i. 89. 5 and 90.

167

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(380) έταξεν ἄλλοις ἄλλα τιμᾶν καὶ σέβεσθαι, δυσμενῶς

(

καὶ πολεμικῶς ἀλλήλοις προσφερομένων, καὶ τρο-
div ἑτέραν ἑτέρου' ' προσίεσθαι πεφυκότος," ἀμύ-
>

- 4 ~
τοντες" ἀεὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις ἕκαστοι καὶ χαλεπῶς

Ἰδυκουμένων" φέροντες ἐλάνθανον ταῖς τῶν θηρίων
εχθραις συνεφελκόμενοιξ καὶ συνεκπολεμούμενοι
πρὸς ἀλλήλους. μόνοι γὰρ ἔτι νῦν Αἰγυπτίων
Λυκοπολῖται πρόβατον ἐσθίουσιν, ἐπεὶ καὶ λύκος,
A 4 + τ r 8 - 3 = -
ὃν θεὸν νομίζουσιν οἱ δ᾽ ᾿Οξυρυγχῖται καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς,
-- - . 3 P ? 4 |.) /
τῶν Κυνοπολιτῶν τὸν ὀξύρυγχον ἰχθὺν ἐσθιόντων,
κύνα συλλαβόντες καὶ θύσαντες ὡς ἱερεῖον KaT-
ἔφαγον: ἐκ δὲ τούτου καταστάντες εἰς πόλεμον
2 z z - 1 ο ς i
ἀλλήλους τε διέθηκαν κακῶς καὶ ὕστερον ὑπὸ
“Ρωμαίων κολαζόμενοι διετέθησαν.
- 4 4 ? ~ . "~ 4
73. Πολλῶν δὲ λεγόντων eis ταῦτα τὰ ζῷα τὴν
- - X - ΄ / | ae A β
τοῦ Τυφῶνος αὐτοῦ διάρασθαι ψυχήν, αἰνίττεσθαι
δόξειεν ἂν ὁ μῦθος ὅτι πᾶσα φύσις ἄλογος καὶ
θηριώδης τῆς τοῦ κακοῦ δαίμονος γέγονε μοίρας,
κἀκεῖνον ἐκμειλισσόμενοι καὶ παρηγοροῦντες περι-
έπουσι ταῦτα καὶ θεραπεύουσιν: ἂν δὲ πολὺς
ἐμπίπτῃ καὶ χαλεπὸς αὐχμὸς ἐπάγων ὑπερβαλ-
Pd ~ / > ’ ~ ‘ 4
λόντως ἢ νόσους ὀλεθρίους ἢ συμφορὰς ἄλλας
παραλόγους καὶ ἀλλοκότους, ἔνια τῶν τιμωμένων
οἱ ἱερεῖς ἀπάγοντες ὑπὸ σκότῳ μετὰ σιωπῆς καὶ

: e , 3 λ - . 5 δύ ` - A
D ἡσυχίας ἀπειλουσι και OE€OLTTOVTAL TO πρωτον, αν

1 ἑτέρου Reiske: ἑτέρους.

2 πεφυκότος Reiske (Wyttenbach prefers ἑτέρων ἕτερα . . .
πεφυκότων: πεφυκότας). 3 ἀμύνοντες Xylander: ἀμύνοντας.

4 ἀδικουμένων Markland: ἀδικούμενοι.

5 συνεφελκόμενοι Wyttenbach: συνελκόμενοι.

ê κύνα Reiske: κύνας.

a Cf. 353 c and 358 B, supra ; Aelian, De Natura Anima-
lium, xi. 27, and Juvenal, xv. 35. -

168

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 380

on different peoples to honour and revere different
animals ; ed inasmuch as these animals conducted
themselves with enmity and hostility toward one
another, one by its nature desiring one kind of food
and another another, the several peoples were ever
defending their own animals, and were much offended
if these animals suffered injury, and thus they were
drawn on unwittingly by the enmities of the animals
until they were brought into open hostility with one
another, Even to-day the inhabitants of Lycopolis
are the only people among the Egyptians that eat
a sheep ; for the wolf, whem they hold to be a god,
also eats it. And inmy day the people of Oxyrhynchus
caught a dog. and sacrificed it and ate it up as if
it had been sacrificial meat." because the people of -
Cynopolis were eating the fish known as the oxy-
rhynchus or pike. As a result of this they became
invelved in war and inflicted much harm upon each
other ; and later they were both brought to order
through chastisement by the Romans.

73. Many relate that the soul of Typhon himself
was divided among these animals. The legend would
seem to intimate that all irrational and brutish nature
belongs to the portion of the evil deity, and in trying
to soothe and appease him they lavish attention and
care upon these animals. If there befall a great
and severe drought that brings on in excess either
fatal diseases or other unwonted and extraordinary
calamities, the priests, under cover of darkness, in |
silence and stealth, lead away some of the animals
that are held in honour ; and at first they but threaten
and terrify the animals,’ but if the drought still per-

è CF. Milteis und Wilcken, Grondziige und Chrestomathie
der Papyruskunde, icp. 125. l

169

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(980) δ᾽ ἐπιμένῃ, καθιερεύουσιὶ καὶ σφάττουσιν, ws δή
τινα κολασμὸν ὄντα τοῦ δαίμονος τοῦτον ἢ καθαρ-
μὸν ἄλλως μέγαν ἐπὶ μεγίστοις" καὶ γὰρ ἐν Ἐἶλει-
θυίας" πόλει ζῶντας ἀνθρώπους κατεπίμπρασαν
ws Μανεθὼς ἱστόρηκε, Τυφωνείουςὶ καλοῦντες,
καὶ τὴν τέφραν αὐτῶν λικμῶντες ἠφάνιζον καὶ
διέσπειρον. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν ἐδρᾶτο φανερῶς καὶ
καθ᾽ ἕνα καιρὸν ἐν ταῖς κυνάσιν ἡμέραις᾽ at δὲ
τῶν τιμωμένων ζῴων καθιερεύσεις ἀπόρρητοι καὶ

E χρόνοις ἀτάκτοις πρὸς τὰ συμπίπτοντα γιγνόμεναι |
τοὺς πολλοὺς λανθάνουσι, πλὴν ὃ ὅταν ταφὰς" ἔχωσι
καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀναδεικνύντες ἔνια πάντων παρ-
όντων συνεμβάλλωσιδ οἰόμενοι τοῦ Τυφῶνος ἀντι-
λυπεῖν καὶ κολούειν τὸ ἡδόμενον. ὁ γὰρ “Ams
δοκεῖ μετ᾽ ὀλίγων ἄλλων ἱερὸς εἶναι τοῦ ᾿Ὀσίριδος-
ἐκείνῳ δὲ τὰ πλεῖστα προσνέμουσι. κἂν ἀληθὴς

ὁ λόγος οὗτος ᾖ, σημαίνειν ἡγοῦμαι τὸ ζητούμενον

ἐπὶ τῶν «ὁμολογουμένων καὶ κοινὰς ἐχόντων τὰς

τιμάς, οἷόν ἐστιν Ἶβις καὶ ἱέραξ καὶ κυνοκέφαλος,
αὐτός 7° 6 *Ams καὶ ὁ Μένδης": οὕτω δὴ γὰρ τὸν
ἐν Μένδητι τράγον καλοῦσι.

E τα. Λείπεται δὲ δὴ τὸ χρειῶδες καὶ τὸ συμ-

βολικόν, ὧν ἔνια θατέρου, πολλὰ δ᾽ ἀμφοῖν (pet

έσχηκε. βοῦν μὲν οὖν καὶ πρόβατον καὶ ἐχνεύμονα

1 καθιερεύουσι Reiske: καθιεροῦσι.

3 Εἰλειθυίας Parthey: ἰδιθύας.

5 Τυφωνείους Squire: τυφωνίους.

4 ταφὰς] “Amdos ταφὰς Xylander.

5 συνεμβάλλωσιν Wyttenbach and Bernardakis: συνεµ-
άλωσιν.

δ τὴ added by F.C.B.

τ καὶ ὁ Μένδης added by Semler (ef. Herodotus, | ii. 46).
Alii alia.

‘170

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 380

sists, they consecrate and sacrifice them, as if,
forsooth, this were a means of punishing the deity,
or at least a mighty rite of purification in matters
of the highest importance! The fact is that in the
city of Eileithyia they used to burn men alive,* as
Manetho has recorded ; they called them Typhonians,
and by means of winnowing fans they dissipated and
scattered their ashes. But this was performed publicly
and at a special time in the dog-days. The consecra-
tions of the animals held in honour, however, were
secret, and took place at indeterminate times with
reference to the circumstances ; and thus they are
unknown to the multitude, except when they hold
the animals’ burials,’ and then they display some of
the other sacred animals and, in the presence of all,
cast them into the grave together, thinking thus to
hurt and to curtail Typhon’s satisfaction. The Apis,
together with a few other animals, seems to be sacred
to Osiris*; but to Typhon they assign the largest
number of animals. If this account is true, I think it
indicates that the object of our inquiry concerns those
which are commonly accepted and whose honours are
universal: for example, the ibis, the hawk, the
cynocephalus, and the Apis himself, as well as the
Mendes, for thus they call the goat in Mendes.*

74. There remain, then, their usefulness and their
symbolism ; of these two, some of the animals share
in the one, and many share in both. It is clear that
the Egyptians have honoured the cow, the sheep, and

a Cf. Diodorus, i. 88. 5.

? Cf. 359 D, supra; Diodorus, i. 91. 5; 88, 1 and 5;
sa τσ 969 c-D, supra. |

4 Gf. Herodotus, ii. 46; Diodorus, i. 84. 4; Strabo, xvii.
1. 19. :

171

381

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

δῆλον ὅτι χρείας ἕνεκα καὶ ὠφελείας ἐτίμησαν (ὡς
Λήμνιοι κορύδους, τὰ τῶν ἀτταλάβων εὑρίσκοντας
wa καὶ κόπτοντας': Θετταλοὶ δὲ πελαργούς, ὅτι
πολλοὺς ὄφεις τῆς γῆς ἀναδιδούσης ἐπιφανέντες
ἐξώλεσαν ἅπαντας: διὸ καὶ νόμον ἔθεντο φεύγειν
ὅστις ἂν ἀποκτείνῃ πελαργόν), ἀσπίδα δὲ καὶ
γαλῆν καὶ κάνθαρον, εἰκόνας τινὰς ἐν αὐτοῖς
ἀμαυρὰς ὥσπερ ἐν σταγόσιν ἡλίου τῆς τῶν θεῶν
δυνάμεως κατιδόντες" τὴν μὲν γὰρ. γαλῆν ἔτι
πολλοὶ νομίζουσι, καὶ λέγουσι κατὰ τὸ οὖς ὀχευο-
µένην, τῷ δὲ στόματι τίκτουσαν, εἴκασμα τῆς τοῦ
λόγου γενέσεως εἶναι. τὸ δὲ κανθάρων γένος οὐκ
ἔχειν θήλειαν, ἄρρενας δὲ πάντας ἀφιέναι τὸν γόνον
εἰς τὴν σφαιροποιουμένην ὕλην, ἣν κυλινδοῦσιν
ἀντιβάδην ὠθοῦντες, ὥσπερ δοκεῖ τὸν οὐρανὸν ὁ
ἥλιος ἐς τοὐναντίον περιστρέφειν, αὐτὸς ἀπὸ
δυσμῶν. ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνατολὰς φερόμενος. ἀσπίδα δ᾽
ὡς ἀγήρων καὶ χρωμένην κινήσεσιν ἀνοργάνοις
μετ᾽ εὐπετείας καὶ ὑγρότητος ἀστραπῇ᾽ προσ-
είκασαν.

75. Οὐ μὴν οὐδ᾽ ὁ κροκόδειλος᾽ αἰτίας πιθανῆς
ἀμοιροῦσαν ἔσχηκε τιμήν, ἀλλὰ μίμημα θεοῦ λέ-
yerat γεγονέναι, µόνος μὲν ἄγλωσσος | ὤν. φωνῆς
γὰρ ὁ θεῖος λόγος ἀπροσδεής ἐστι, καὶ

1 κόπτοντες] κάπτοντες Hatzidakis.

2 , ἀστραπῇ Strid. ' ἄρηρῳ Ñ.
3 μίμημα in one MS.: οὗ μίμημα.

a Cf. Aristotle, De Mirabilibus Auso. 23 (832 a 14);
Pliny, Natural History, x. 31. 62; Stephanus Byzant.
s.w. Θεσσαλία.

172

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 380-381

the ichneumon because of their need for these animals
and their usefulness. Even so the people of Lemnos
hold larks in honour because they seek out the eggs
of the locust and destroy them ; and so the people of
Thessaly honour storks,* because, when their land
produced many snakes,’ the storks appeared and
destroyed them all. For this reason they passed a
law that whoever killed a stork should be banished
from the country. The Egyptians also honoured the
asp, the weasel, and the beetle, since they observed
in them certain dim likenesses of the power of the
gods, like images of the sun in drops of water. There
are still many people who believe and declare that
the weasel conceives through its ear and brings forth
its young by way of the mouth, and that this is a
parallel of the generation of speech. The race of
beetles has no female, but all the males eject their
sperm into a round pellet of material which they roll
up by pushing it from the opposite side, just as
the sun seems to turn the heavens in the direction
opposite to its own course, which is from west to east.
They compare the asp to lightning, since it does not
grow old and manages to move with ease and supple-
ness without the use of limbs.

τὸ. The crocodile,” certainly, has acquired honour
which is not devoid of a plausible reason, but he is
declared to be a living representation of God, since he
is the only creature without a tongue ; for the Divine
Word has no need of a voice, and

> Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus, ii. 39. 63
Plutarch’s source may have been Theophrastus, Frag. 174. 6
(Wimmer, vol. iii. p. 220).

ἆ Cf. Herodotus, ii. 69.

173

(381)

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

δι ἀφόφου
βαίνων κελεύθου κατὰ δίκην τὰ θνήτ᾽ dyert
- ;

μόνου δέ φασι; ἐν ὑγρῷ διαιτωμένου τὰς ὄψεις
ὑμένα λεῖον καὶ διαφανῆ παρακαλύπτειν ἐκ τοῦ
μετώπου κατερχόμενον, ὥστε βλέπειν μὴ βλεπό-
μενον, δ᾽ τῷ πρώτῳ θεῷ συμβέβηκεν. ὅπου δ᾽ ἂν
ἡ θήλεια τῆς χώρας ἀποτέκῃ, τοῦτο Νείλου πέρας
ἐπίσταται τῆς αὐξήσεως γενόμενον. ἐν ὑγρῷ

` ) , 3 / δὲ , 3 7
γὰρ οὐ δυνάμεναι, πόρρω δὲ φοβούμεναι" τίκτειν,
οὕτως ἀκριβῶς προαισθάνονται τὸ μέλλον, ὥστε
τῷ ποταμῷ προσελθόντι χρῆσθαι λοχευόμεναι καὶ
θάλπουσαι, τὰ δ᾽ Ga ξηρὰ καὶ ἄβρεκτα φυλάττειν.
ἑξήκοντα δὲ τίκτουσιν, καὶ τοσαύταις ἡμέραις
ἐκλέπουσι, καὶ τοσούτους ζῶσιν ἐνιαυτοὺς οἱ

- A ~ >

μακρότατον ζῶντες, ὃ τῶν µέτρων πρῶτόν ἐστι
τοῖς περὶ τὰ οὐράνια πραγματευομένοις.

5 A A - ὃ > 5 / , .

Αλλὰ μὴν τῶν δι ἀμφότερα τιμωμένων περὶ
μὲν τοῦ κυνὸς εἴρηται πρόσθεν: ἡ δ᾽ ἴβις ἀπο-
κτείνουσα μὲν τὰ θανατηφόρα τῶν ἑρπετῶν ἐδί-
dake πρώτη κενώματος ἰατρικοῦ χρείαν κατιδόντας
αὐτὴν" κλυζομένην καὶ καθαιρομένην ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτῆς"
οἱ δὲ νομιμώτατοι τῶν ἱερέων καθάρσιον ὕδωρ
e ca ιά u + >
ἀγνιζόμενοι λαμβάνουσιν ὅθεν Ίβις πέπωκεν' οὐ

1 κατὰ δίκην τὰ θνήτ᾽ ἄγει] καὶ δίκης τὰ θνητὰ ἄγει κατὰ δίκην
all corrected by the mss. of Euripides.

6 Meziriacus: ᾧ.

3 δυνάμεναι... φοβούμεναι Meziriacus: δυνάμενοι. « . $o-
βούμενοι. 4 αὐτὴν Strijd: οὕτω.

a Euripides, Troades, 887-888; ef. Plutarch, Moralia,
1007 c.

> Ibid. 982 c; Aristotle, Hist: Animalium, v. 33 (558 a 17).
¢ Cf. Aelian, De Natura Animalium, ii. 33, v. 52.

174

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 381

through noiseless ways advancing, guides
By Justice all affairs of mortal men.*

They say that the crocodile is the only animal living
in the water which has a thin and transparent mem-
brane extending down from his forehead to cover up his
eyes, so that he can see without being seen ; and this
prerogative belongs also unto the First God. In
whatever part of the land the female crocodile lays
her eggs, well she knows that this is destined to mark
the limit of the rise of the Nile®; for the females,
being unable to lay their eggs in the water and afraid
to lay them far from it, have such an accurate percep-
tion of the future that they make use of the oncoming
river as a guide in laying their eggs and in keeping
them warm; and thus they preserve them dry and
untouched by the water. They lay sixty eggs ° and
hatch them in the same number of days, and those
crocodiles that live longest live that number of years :
the number sixty is the first of measures for such
persons as concern themselves with the heavenly
bodies. i

Of the animals that are held in honour for both
reasons, mention has already been made of the dog.¢
The ibis,’ which kills the deadly creeping things, was
the first to teach men the use of medicinal purgations
when they observed her employing clysters and being
purged by herself.’ The most strict of the priests
take their lustral water for purification from a place
where the ibis has drunk” ; for she does not drink

4 Supra, 355 s-and 368 F.

e Cf. Diodorus, 1. 87. 6.

t Cf. Aelian, De Natura Animalium, ii. 35; Pliny,

Natural History, x. 40 (75).
5 Cf. Moralia, 974c; Aelian, De Natura Animalium,

vii, 45.
175

(381)

σα

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

’ . 11 ~ s $ δὲ
πίνει γὰρ εἴ νοσῶδες ἢ πεφαρμαγμένον οὐδέ
πρόσεισι. τῇ δὲ τῶν ποδῶν διαστάσει) πρὸς ἀλλή-
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δ᾽ ἡ τῶν μελάνων πτερῶν πρὸς" τὰ λευκὰ ποικιλία
καὶ μεῖξις ἐμφαίνει σελήνην ἀμφίκυρτον.

- κ) > / ε /

Οὐ δεῖ δὲ θαυμάζειν, εἰ γλίσχρας ὁμοιότητας
οὕτως ἠγάπησαν Αἰγύπτιοι. καὶ γὰρ kait “EA-
ληνες ἔν τε γραπτοῖς ἔν τε πλαστοῖς εἰκάσμασι
θεῶν ἐχρήσαντο πολλοῖς τοιούτοις" οἷον ἐν Kory
Διὸς ἦν ἄγαλμα μὴ ἔχον ὦτα" τῷ γὰρ ἄρχοντι καὶ
κυρίῳ πάντων οὐδενὸς ἀκούειν προσήκει. τῷ δὲ

A 3 - A ΄ / ’ -
τῆς ᾿Αθηνᾶς τὸν δράκοντα Φειδίας παρέθηκε, τῷ
ὃ A A >A δ i > "HA δ bi À ΄ E `

è τῆς ᾿Αφροδίτης ἐν ιδι τὴν χελώνην, ὡς τὰς
μὲν παρθένους φυλακῆς δεομένας, ταῖς δε γαμεταῖς
οἰκουρίαν καὶ σιωπὴν πρέπουσαν. ἡ δὲ τοῦ
[Τοσειδῶνος τρίαινα σύμβολόν ἐστι τῆς τρίτης
χώρας, ἣν θάλαττα κατέχει μετὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ

4
τὸν ἀέρα τεταγμένη. διὸ καὶ τὴν ᾿Αμϕιτρίτην καὶ
τοὺς Γρίτωνας οὕτως ὠνόμασαν.

e . + 4 3 A Y 4

Οἱ δὲ Πυθαγόρειοι καὶ ἀριθμοὺς καὶ σχήματα
θεῶν ἐκόσμησαν προσηγορίαις. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἰσό-
πλευρον τρίγωνον ἐκάλουν ᾿Λθηνᾶν κορυφαγενῆ᾽
καὶ τριτογένειαν, ὅτι τρισὶ καθέτοις ἀπὸ τῶν τριῶν
γωνιῶν ἀγομέναις διαιρεῖται: τὸ δ᾽ ἓν' Απόλλωνα

40, > , . . e λ LA A ϐ 15 x
πλήθους ἀποφάσει καὶ δι᾽ ἁπλότητα τῆς' µονάθος

εἰ Michael (from Moral. 974. ο): Ñe
διαστάσει Böttcher: διαβάσει.
πρὸς Reiske: περὶ.
καὶ γὰρ καὶ Xylander: καὶ.
κορυφαγενῆ an obvious correction of early editors; κορυφα-
γεννῆ.
6 πλήθους ἀποφάσει καὶ δι ἁπλότητα τῆς Wyttenbach and
Böttcher: πείθουσα προφάσει καὶ διπλοτάτης.

176

eave

σι

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 381

water if it is unwholesome or tainted, nor will she
approach it. By the spreading of her feet, in their
relation to each other and to her bill, she makes
an equilateral triangle.” Moreover the variety and
combination of her black feathers with her white
picture the moon in its first quarter.

There is no occasion for surprise that the Egyptians
were so taken with such slight resemblances ; for the
Greeks in their painted and sculptured portrayals of
the gods made use of many such. For example, in
Crete there was a statue of Zeus having no ears ; for
it is not fitting for the Ruler and Lord of all to listen
to anyone. Beside the statue of Athena Pheidias
placed the serpent and in Elis beside the statue of
Aphrodité the tortoise,” to indicate that maidens
need watching, and that for married women staying
at home and silence is becoming. The trident of
Poseidon is a symbol of the Third Region where the
sea holds sway, for it has been assigned to a demesne
of less importance than the heavens and the air. For
this reason they thus named Amphitrité and the
Tritons.¢

The Pythagoreans embellished also numbers and
figures with the appellations of the gods. The equi-
lateral triangle they called Athena, born from the
head and third-born, because it is divided by three
perpendiculars drawn from its three angles. The
number one they called Apollo ἆ because of its rejec-
tion of plurality and because of the singleness of

2 Cf. Moralia, 670 c.
+ Cf. Moralia, 142 D; Pausanias, vi. 25. 9,
5 An effort to derive these names from τρίτος, “ third.”
4 Cf. the note on 354 r, supra.
e Cf. 393 B, infra.

177

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

Ν ` % 4
ἔριν δὲ τὴν δυάδα καὶ τόλμαν" δίκην δὲ τὴν τριάδα,
- ` 3 - . > i A 1 N Δ
τοῦ γὰρ ἀδικεῖν καὶ ἀδικεῖσθαι κατ᾽ ἔλλειψιν καὶ
. ` ’
ὑπερβολὴν ὄντος, ἰσότητι τὸ" δίκαιον ἐν μέσῳ
a .
γέγονεν: ἡ δὲ καλουμένη τετρακτύς, τὰ ἓξ καὶ
389 τριάκοντα, μέγιστος ἦν ὅρκος, ὡς τεθρύληται, καὶ
Ζ ΄ 3 r -
κόσμος ὠνόμασται, τεττάρων μὲν ἀἁρτίων τῶν
πρώτων, τεττάρων δὲ τῶν περιττῶν εἰς ταὐτὸ
συντιθεμένων, ἀποτελούμενος.
34 + e ΄ - ,
76. Εἴπερ οὖν οἱ δοκιμώτατοι τῶν φιλοσόφων
οὐδ᾽ ἐν ἀψύχοις καὶ ἀσωμάτοις πράγμασιν αἴνιγμα
- + + 3 ’ 3 a 3 A 309
τοῦ θείου κατιδόντες ἠξίουν ἀμελεῖν οὐδὲν οὐδ
> -
ἀτιμάζειν, ἔτι μᾶλλον οἴομαι τὰς ἐν αἰσθανομέναις
καὶ ψυχὴν ἐχούσαις καὶ πάθος καὶ ἦθος φύσεσιν
3 / "~
ἰδιότητας κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς' ἀγαπητέον eiva, où ταῦτα
τιμῶντας, ἀλλὰ διὰ τούτων τὸ θεῖον, ws ἐναρ-
5
B γεστέρων ἐσόπτρων καὶ φύσει γεγονότων, wor?
ὄργανον ἢ τέχνην δεῖ’ τοῦ πάντα κοσμοῦντος θεοῦ
, Uog s 3 - 9 ` ¥
νομίζειν, καὶ ὅλως! ἀξιοῦν γε μηδὲν ἄψυχον
> -
ἐμψύχου μηδ᾽ ἀναίσθητον αἰσθανομένου κρεῖττον
εἶναι, μηδ᾽ ἂν τὸν σύμπαντά τις χρυσὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ
σμάραγδον εἰς ταὐτὸ συμφορήσῃ. οὐκ ἐν χρόαις"
A ᾱ.. 8 >
γὰρ οὐδ᾽ ἐν σχήμασιν οὐδ᾽ ἐν λειότησιν ἐγγίγνεται
τὸ θεῖον, ἀλλ᾽ ἀτιμοτέραν ἔχει νεκρῶν μοῖραν, ὅσα
4 - - ε .
μὴ μετέσχε, μηδὲ μετέχειν τοῦ ζῆν πέφυκεν. ἡ δὲ
ζῶσα καὶ βλέπουσα καὶ κινήσεως ἀρχὴν ἐξ αὑτῆς
ἔχουσα καὶ γνῶσιν οἰκείων καὶ ἀλλοτρίων φύσις

1 τόλμαν] πόλεμον Reiske. 2 χὸ added by Michael.
3 αἴνιγμα] μίμημα: Meziriacus.
4 εἰκὸς Markland: ἦθος. 5 εἶναι Bernardakis: οὖν.

5 ὥστ᾽ Michael and F.C.B.: ὥς.
7 δεῖ Wyttenbach: ἀεὶ.
8 καὶ ὅλως Bentley: καλῶς. ® ve Reiske: τε.
10 χρόαις the more usual form: χροιαῖς.

178

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 381-382

unity. The number two they called “ Strife,” and
“ Daring,” and three they called “ Justice,” for,
although the doing of injustice and suffering from in-
justice are caused by deficiency and excess, Justice,
by reason of its equality, intervenes between the two.
The so-called sacred quaternion, the number thirty-
six, was, so it is famed, the mightiest of oaths, and it
has been given the name of “ World ” since it is made
up of the first four even numbers and the first four
odd numbers added together.

76. If, then, the most noted of the philosophers,
observing the riddle of the Divine in inanimate andin-
corporeal objects, have not thought it proper to treat
anything with carelessness or disrespect, even more do
I think that, in all likelihood, we should welcome those
peculiar properties existent in natures which possess
the power of perception and have a soul and feeling
and character. It is not that we should honour these,
but that through these we should honour the Divine,
since they are the clearer mirrors of the Divine by
their nature also, so that we should regard them as
the instrument or device of the God who orders all
things. And in general we must hold it true that
nothing inanimate is superior to what is animate, and
nothing without the power of perception is superior
to that which has that power—no, not even if one
should heap together all the gold and emeralds in the
world. The Divine is not engendered in colours or in
forms or in polished surfaces, but whatsoever things
have no share in life, things whose nature does not
allow them to share therein, have a portion of less
honour than that of the dead. But the nature that
lives and sees and has within itself the source of
movement and a knowledge of what belongs to it and

179

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(382) κάλλους τ; ἔσπακεν ἀπορροὴν καὶ μοῖραν èk τοῦ
φρονοῦντος, “ ὅτῳ" κυβερνᾶται τὸ" σύμπαν” καθ᾽

ε / oe b a > r > δι
O Ἡράκλειτον. ὅθεν οὐ χεῖρον ἐν τούτοις εἰκάζεται

τὸ θεῖον ἢ χαλκοῖς" καὶ λιθίνοις δηµιουργήµασιν,

φθορὰς μὲν ὁμοίως δέχεται καὶ ἐπιχρώσεις,
> >
αἰσθήσεως δὲ πάσης φύσει καὶ συνέσεως ἐστέρηται.
περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν τιμωμένων ζῴων ταῦτα δοκιμάζω
μάλιστα τῶν λεγομένων.

77. Ἑτολαὶ δ᾽ αἱ μὲν "loos ποικίλαι ταῖς pa-
dais: περὶ γὰρ ὕλην ἡ δύναμις αὐτῆς πάντα γιγνο-
μένην καὶ δεχομένην, φῶς σκότος, ἡμέραν νύκτα,
πῦρ ὕδωρ, ζωὴν θάνατον, ἀρχὴν τελευτήν: ἡ δ᾽
> t 3 3, ` 3 μ λ Γ ἡ LAN’ a
Ὀσίριδος οὐκ ἔχει σκιὰν οὐδὲ ποικιλμον, ἀλλ εν
ἁπλοῦν τὸ φωτοειδές: ἄκρατον γὰρ ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ
ἀμιγὲς τὸ πρῶτον καὶ νοητόν. ὅθεν ἅπαξ ταύτην"
3 / 3 1, ` / ως

D ἀναλαβόντες ἀποτίθενται καὶ φυλάττουσιν ἀόρατον
καὶ ἄψουστον. ταῖς δ᾽ Ἰσιακαῖς χρῶνται πολ-
λάκις: ἐν χρήσει γὰρ τὰ αἰσθητὰ καὶ πρόχειρα
ελ A > + ` + τ ~ » 3
ὄντα πολλὰς ἀναπτύξεις καὶ θέας αὑτῶν ἄλλοτ
Eg > La i ς $ A - .
ἄλλως ἀμειβομένων δίδωσιν. ἡ δὲ τοῦ νοητοῦ καὶ
εἰλικρινοῦς καὶ ἁπλοῦ’ νόησις ὥσπερ ἀστραπὴ
διαλάμψασα τῆς ψυχῆς! ἅπαξ ποτὲ θιγεῖν καὶ
προσιδεῖν παρέσχε" διὸ καὶ Πλάτων καὶ ᾿Αριστο-
τέλης ἐποπτικὸν τοῦτο τὸ μέρος τῆς φιλοσοφίας

1 κάλλους τ᾽ Papabasileios from Plato, Phaedrus, p. 251 B:
ἄλλως τε.

3 ὅτῳ Markland: ὅπως.

3 τὸ Bentley: τό τε.

4 χαλκοῖς Salmasius: χαλκείοις.
ταύτην Markland: ταῦτα.
ταῖς δ᾽ Ἰσιακαῖς Markland: τοῖς δ᾽ ἰσιακοῖς. ᾿
ἁπλοῦ Emperius (ἀγνοῦ 2 F.C.B.): ἁγίου.
, 5 τῇ ψυχῇ Markland.

ασ

παρέσχε Bentley: προσέσχε.

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 382

what belongs to others, has drawn to itself an efflux
and portion of beauty from the Intelligence “ by
which the Universe is guided,” as Heracleitus 3 has it.
Wherefore the Divine is no worse represented in
these animals than in works of bronze and stone which
are alike subject to destruction and disfiguration, and
by their nature are void of all perception and com-
prehension, This, then, is what I most approve in
the accounts that are given regarding the animals
held in honour.

77. As for the robes, those of Isis® are variegated in
their colours ; for her power is concerned with matter
which becomes everything and receives everything,
light and darkness, day and night, fire and water, life
and death, beginning and end. But the robe of
Osiris has no shading or variety in its colour, but only
one single colour like to light. For the beginning
is combined with nothing else, and that which is
primary and conceptual is without admixture ; where-
fore, when they have once taken off the robe of Osiris,
they lay it away and guard it, unseen and untouched.
But the robes of Isis they use many times over; for in
use those things that are perceptible andready at hand
afford many disclosures of themselves and opportuni-
ties to view them as they are changed about in
various ways. But the apperception of the concep-
tual, the pure, and the simple, shining through the
soul like a flash of lightning, affords an opportunity to
touch and see it but once.* For this reason Plato? and
Aristotle call this part of philosophy the epoptic 5 or

* Diels, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, i. 86, Heracleitus,
πο. B 41. è Cf. 352 B, supra.
5 Cf. Plato, Letters, vii. 344 B.
4 Plato, Symposium, 210 a.
* Cf. Life of Alexander, chap. vii. (668 a).
181

383

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

~ e e 4. . x . .
καλοῦσιν, ὡς οἱ τὰ δοξαστὰ καὶ μεικτὰ καὶ παντο-
δαπὰ ταῦτα παραμειψάμενοι τῷ λόγῳ, πρὸς τὸ
πρῶτον ἐκεῖνο καὶ ἁπλοῦν καὶ ἄυλον ἐξάλλονται,

~ . -
καὶ θιγόντες ἁμωσγέπως' τῆς περὶ αὐτὸ καθαρᾶς
ἀληθείας οἷον ἐντελῆ; τέλος ἔχειν φιλοσοφίαν"
+.
νομίζουσι.
. ay Y e ~ ε - 2. +

78. Καὶ τοῦθ᾽ ὅπερ οἱ νῦν ἱερεῖς ἀφοσιούμενοι
καὶ παρακαλυπτόμενοι μετ᾽ εὐλαβείας ὑποδηλοῦσιν
ὡς ó θεὸς οὗτος ἄρχει καὶ βασιλεύει τῶν τεθνη-
κότων οὐχ ἕτερος ὧν τοῦ καλουμένου παρ Ἕλ-
λησιν "Αιδου καὶ Πλούτωνος, ἀγνοούμενον ὅπως
3 2 > 2 4 ‘ λλ A e ~
ἀληθές ἐστι, διαταράττει' τοὺς πολλοὺς ὑπονοοῦντας
ἐν γῇ καὶ ὑπὸ γῆν τὸν ἱερὸν καὶ ὅσιον ὡς ἀληθῶς
Όσιριν οἰκεῖν, ὅπου τὰ σώματα κρύπτεται τῶν
τέλος ë ἔχειν δοκούντων. 6 δ᾽ ἔστι μὲν αὐτὸς anw-
τάτω τῆς γῆς ἄχραντος καὶ ἀμίαντος καὶ καθαρὸς
οὐσίας ἁπάσης φθορὰν δεχομένης καὶ θάνατον.
ἀνθρώπων δὲ ψυχαῖς ἐνταυθοῖῦ μὲν ὑπὸ σωμάτων
καὶ παθῶν περιεχομέναις οὐκ ἔστι μετουσία τοῦ
θεοῦ, πλὴν ὅσον ὀνείρατος ἁμαυροῦ θιγεῖν νοήσει
διὰ φιλοσοφίας: ὅταν δ᾽ ἀπολυθεῖσαι μεταστῶσιν
εἰς τὸ ἀιδὲς καὶ ἀόρατον καὶ ἀπαθὲς καὶ ἁγνόν,
οὗτος αὐταῖς ἡγεμών ἐστι καὶ βασιλεὺς ὁ θεός,
ἐξηρτημέναις ὡς ἂν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ θεωμέναις
3 λ ’ A 4 . A ` δὲ e 17
ἀπλήστως καὶ ποθούσαις τὸ μὴ φατὸν μηδὲ ῥητὸν
2 ΄ 7: D Ν π e ἣν} 3 lA
ἀνθρώποις κάλλος: οὗ τὴν "low ὁ παλαιὸς ἀποφαίνει

1 ἁμωσγέπως F.C.B.: ἄλλως.
8 ἐντελῆ] ἐν τελετῇ Reiske. ὃ φιλοσοφίας Reiske.
4 διαταράττει Xylander : διαταράττειν.

a Of. 375 D, supra. > Cf. 372 £ and 374 F, supra.
182

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 382-383

mystic part, inasmuch as those who have passed
beyond these conjectural and confused matters of all
sorts by means of Reason proceed by leaps and bounds
to that primary, simple, and immaterial principle ;
and when they have somehow attained contact with
the pure truth abiding about it, they think that they
have the whole of philosophy completely, as it were,
within their grasp.

78. This idea at the present time the priests
intimate with great circumspection in acquitting
themselves of this religious secret and in trying to
conceal it: that this god Osiris is the ruler and king
of the dead, nor is he any other than the god that
among the Greeks is called Hades and Pluto. But
since it is not understood in what manner this is true,
it greatly disturbs the majority of people who suspect
that the holy and sacred Osiris truly dwells in the
earth and beneath the earth,? where are hidden away
the bodies of those that are believed to have reached
their end. But he himself is far removed from the
earth, uncontaminated and unpolluted and pure from
all matter that is subject to destruction and death ;
but for the souls of men here, which are compassed
about by bodies and emotions, there is no association
with this god except in so far as they may attain to a
dim vision of his presence by means of the appercep-
tion which philosophy affords. But when these souls
are set free and migrate into the realm of the invisible
and the unseen, the dispassionate and the pure, then
this god becomes their leader and king, since it is
on him that they are bound to be dependent in their
insatiate contemplation and yearning for that beauty
which is for men unutterable and indescribable.
With this beauty Isis, as the ancient story declares,

183

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

(388) λόγος ἐρῶσαν ἀεὶ καὶ διώκουσαν καὶ συνοῦσαν ava-
πιμπλάναι τὰ ἐνταῦθα πάντων' καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν,
ὅσα γενέσεως μετέσχηκε.

Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν οὕτως ἔχει τὸν μάλιστα θεοῖς
πρέποντα λόγον. (79.) εἰ δὲ δεῖ καὶ περὶ τῶν
θυμιωμένων ἡμέρας ἑκάστης εἰπεῖν, ὥσπερ ὑπ
εσχόµην, ἐκεῖνο διανοηθείη τις ἂν᾽ πρότερον ὡς ἀεὶ

Β μὲν οἱ ἄνδρες ἐν σπουδῇ μεγίστῃ τίθενται τὰ πρὸς
ὑγίειαν ἐπιτηδεύματα, μάλιστα δὲ ταῖς ἱερουργίαις
καὶ ταῖς ἀγνείαις καὶ διαίταις οὐχ ἧττον ἔνεστι᾽
τοῦ ὁσίου τὸ ὑγιεινόν. οὐ γὰρ ῴοντο καλῶς ἔχειν
οὔτε σώμασι; οὔτε ψυχαῖς ὑπούλοις καὶ νοσώδεσι
θεραπεύειν τὸ καθαρὸν καὶ ἀβλαβὲς πάντῃ καὶ
ἀμίαντον. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ὁ ἀήρ, ᾧ πλεῖστα χρώμεθα
καὶ σύνεσμεν, οὐκ ἀεὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει διάθεσιν
καὶ κρᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ νύκτωρ πυκνοῦται καὶ πιέζει τὸ
σῶμα καὶ συνάγει τὴν ψυχὴν εἰς τὸ δύσθυμον καὶ

C πεφροντικὸς οἷον ἀχλυώδη γιγνομένην καὶ βαρεῖαν,
ἐναστάντες εὐθὺς ἐπιθυμιῶσι ῥητίνην, θεραπεύοντες
καὶ καθαίροντες τὸν ἀέρα τῇ διακρίσει καὶ τὸ
σύμφυτον τῷ σώματι πνεῦμα μεμαρασμένον ἆναρ-
ριπίζοντες, ἐχούσης τι τῆς ὀσμῆς σφοδρὸν καὶ
καταπληκτικόν.

Αὖθις δὲ μεσημβρίας αἰσθανόμενοι σφόδρα πολ-
λὴν καὶ βαρεῖαν ἀναθυμίασιν ἀπὸ γῆς ἕλκοντα βίᾳ
τὸν ἥλιον καὶ καταμειγνύοντα" τῷ ἀέρι, τὴν σμύρναν
ἐπιθυμιῶσι. διαλύει γὰρ ἡ θερμότης καὶ σκίδνησι
τὸ συνιστάμενον ἐν τῷ περιέχοντι θολερὸν καὶ
ἰλυῶδες. καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἰατροὶ πρὸς τὰ λοιμικὰ πάθη
1 πάντων] πάντα Wyttenbach. 3 ἂν added by Bernardakis.

5 ἔνεστι Wyttenbach: ἐστι τουτὶ.
4 καταμιγνύοντα Xylander: καταμιγνύοντες.

184

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 383

is for ever enamoured and pursues it and consorts
with it and fills our earth here with all things fair
and good that partake of generation.

This which I have thus far set forth comprises that
account which is most befitting the gods. (79.) If,
as I have promised,* I must now speak of the offerings
of incense which are made each day, one should first
consider that this people always lays the very greatest
stress upon those practices which are conducive to
health. Especially in their sacred services and holy
living and strict regimen the element of health is no
less important than that of piety. For they did not
deem it proper to serve that which is pure and in all
ways unblemished and unpolluted with either bodies
or souls that were unhealthy and diseased.’ Since,
then, the air, of which we make the greatest use and
in which we exist, has not always the same consistency
and composition, but in the night-time becomes dense
and oppresses the body and brings the soul into
depression and solicitude, as if it had become befogged
and heavy, therefore, immediately upon arising, they
burn resin on their altars, revivifying and purifying
the air by its dissemination, and fanning into fresh
life the languished spirit innate in the body, inasmuch
as the odour of resin contains something forceful
and stimulating.

Again at midday, when they perceive that the sun
is forcibly attracting a copious and heavy exhalation
from the earth and is combining this with the air, they
burn myrrh on the altars; for the heat dissolves and
scatters the murky and turgid concretions in the
surrounding atmosphere. In fact, physicians seem to

a 372 c, supra.
» Cf. the Roman taboo in Moralia, 981 ο.

185

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA |

(383) βοηθεῖν δοκοῦσι φλόγα πολλὴν ποιοῦντες ὡς λεπτύ-

Sy ἀέρα" λεπτύνει δὲ βέλτιον, ἐὰν εὐώδη

D νουσαν τὸν dé
z ’ τ / ` > Z, A
ἐύλα καίωσιν, οἷα κυπαρίττου καὶ ἀρκεύθου καὶ
v4 ” ~ . > . > > 14
πεύκης. "Ακρωνα γοῦν τὸν ἰατρὸν ἐν ᾿Αθήναις
ὑπὸ τὸν μέγαν λοιμὸν εὐδοκιμῆσαι λέγουσι, πῦρ
κελεύοντα παρακαίειν τοῖς νοσοῦσιν" ὤνησε γὰρ
3 2\7 > ta 4 λ z
οὐκ ὀλίγους. ᾿Αριστοτέλης δέ φησι καὶ μύρων
3
καὶ ἀνθέων καὶ λειμώνων εὐώδεις ἀποπνοίας οὐκ
ἔλαττον ἔχειν τοῦ πρὸς ἡδονὴν τὸ πρὸς ὑγίειαν,
ψυχρὸν ὄντα φύσει καὶ παγετώδη τὸν ἐγκέφαλον
ἠρέμα τῇ θερμότητι καὶ λειότητι διαχεούσας. εἰ
$ ~
δὲ καὶ τὴν σμύρναν παρ Αἰγυπτίοις βὰλ' καλοῦσιν,
? ` X A ΄ , ~
ἐξερμηνευθὲν δὲ τοῦτο μάλιστα φράζει τῆς πλη-
ρώσεωςξ ἐκσκορπισμόν, ἔστιν ἣν καὶ. τοῦτο μαρ-
τυρίαν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς αἰτίας δίδωσιν.

E 80. Τὸ δὲ κῦφι μεῖγμα μὲν ἑκκαίδεκα μερῶν!
συντιθεμένων ἐστί, μέλιτος καὶ οἴνου καὶ σταφίδος
καὶ κυπέρου, ῥητίνης τε καὶ σμύρνης καὶ dona-

7 : 4 7 Ea x id yo 7
λάθου kal σεσέλεως, ἔτι δὲ σχίνου τε καὶ ἀσφάλτου
ἱθρύου' ` Ζ ` ` , 5 is
καὶ θρύου' καὶ λαπάθου, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἀρκευθίδων

| - 4 x ` / Xx > 337
ἀμφοῖν, ὧν τὴν μὲν μείζονα τὴν δ᾽ ἐλάττονα
καλοῦσι, καὶ καρδαμώμου καὶ καλάμου. ovv-
τίθενται δ᾽ οὐχ ὅπως ἔτυχεν, ἀλλὰ γραμμάτων
ἱερῶν τοῖς μυρεψοῖς, ὅταν ταῦτα μειγνύωσιν, ava-
γιγνωσκομένων. τὸν δ᾽ ἀριθμόν, εἰ καὶ πάνυ δοκεῖ
τετράγωνος ἀπὸ τετραγώνου καὶ μόνος ἔχων τῶν
ἴσων ἰσάκις ἀριθμῶν" τῷ χωρίῳ τὴν περίμετρον

1 βὰλ] σὰλ Tablonski.

3 πληρώσεως F.C.B.: ληρήσεως.
3 μερῶν Emperius: μνῶν.
4 θρύου] θύου Strijd.
$ τῶν ἴσων .. . ἀριθμῶν Wyttenbach: τὸν ἴσον... ἀριθμὸν.

186

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 383

bring relief to pestilential affections by making a large
blazing fire, for this rarefies the air. But the rarefica-
tion is more effective if they burn fragrant woods, such
as that of the cypress, the juniper, and the pine. At
any rate, they say that Acron, the physician in Athens
at the time of the great plague, won great repute by
prescribing the lighting of a fire beside the sick, and
thereby he helped not a few. Aristotle% says that
fragrant exhalations from perfumes and flowers and
meadows are no less conducive to health than to
pleasure, inasmuch as by their warmth and lightness
they gently relax the brain, which is by nature cold
and frigid. If it is true that among the Egyptians
they call myrrh “ bal,” and that this being interpreted
has the particular meaning “the dissipation of
repletion,” then this adds some testimony to our
aecount of the reason for its use. .
80. Cyphi® is a compound composed of sixteen
‘ingredients: honey, wine, raisins, cyperus, resin,
myrrh, aspalathus, seselis, mastich, bitumen, rush,
sorrel, and in addition to these both the junipers, of
which they call one the larger and one the smaller,
cardamum, and calamus. These are compounded, not
at random, but while the sacred writings are being
read to the perfumers as they mix the ingredients.
As for this number, even if it appears quite clear that
it is the square of a square and is the only one of the
numbers forming a square that has its perimeter equal

a Cf. Rose, Aristoteles Pseudepigraphus, p. 233.

> Of. Müller, Frag. Hist. Graece. ii. p. 616 (Manetho,
frag. 84). An interesting note in Parthey’s edition (pp.
277-280) describes the different kinds of cyphi mentioned
in ancient writers, and gives in modern terms recipes for
three.

187

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

F ἴσην ἄγασθαι) προσηκόντως «ἐλάχιστα ῥητέον εἴς
γε τοῦτο συνεργεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὰ; πλεῖστα τῶν συλ-
λαμβανομένων ἀρωματικὰς ἔχοντα δυνάμεις γλυκὺ
πνεῦμα. καὶ χρηστὴν μεθίησω ἀναθυμίασιν, ὑφ᾽ ἧς
ὅ τ᾽ ἀὴρ τρεπόμενος καὶ τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῆς πνοῆς
κινούμενον λείως" καὶ προσηνῶς" ὕπνου τε καὶ
κρᾶσιν ἐπαγωγὸν ἴσχει καὶ τὰ λυπηρὰ καὶ σύντονα
τῶν μεθημερωῶν φροντίδων ἄνευ μέθης οἷον

384 ἄμματα χαλᾷ καὶ διαλύει: καὶ τὸ φανταστικὸν. καὶ
δεκτικὸν ὀνείρων μόριον ὥσπερ κάτοπτρον dro-
λεαίνει καὶ ποιεῖ καθαρώτερον οὐδὲν «ἧττον ἢ τὰ
κρούματα τῆς λύρας, οἷς ἐχρῶντο πρὸ τῶν ὕπνων
ot Πυθαγόρειοι, τὸ ἐμπαθὲς καὶ ἄλογον τῆς ψυχῆς
ἐξεπάδοντες οὕτω καὶ (θεραπεύοντες. τὰ γὰρ
ὀσφραντὰ πολλάκις μὲν τὴν αἴσθησιν ἀπολείπουσαν
ἀνακαλεῖται, πολλάκις δὲ πάλιν ἀμβλύνει καὶ
κατηρεμίζει διαχεομένων ἐν τῷ σώματι τῶν ἀνὰ-
λομάτων ὑπὸ λειότητος: ὥσπερ ἔνιοι τῶν ἰατρῶν
τὸν ὕπνον ἐγγίγνεσθαι λέγουσιν, ὅταν ἡ τῆς τρο-
φῆς ἀναθυμίασις οἷον ἕρπουσα λείως περὶ τὰ

Β σπλάγχνα καὶ ψηλαφῶσα ποιῇ" τινα γαργαλισμόν.

τῷ δὲ κῦφι χρῶνται καὶ πώματι καὶ χρίματιζ'
πινόμενον γὰρ δοκεῖ τὰ ἐντὸς καθαίρειν ὡς
χρὴ μαλακτικὸν ov. ἄνευ δὲ τούτων ῥητίνη μόν
ἐστιν ἔργον ἡλίου καὶ σμύρνα" πρὸς τὴν εἴλην"' τέ ν
φυτῶν ἐκδακρυόντων. τῶν δὲ τὸ κῦφι συντιθέντων

; ἄγασθαι F.C.B.; ἀγαπᾶσθαι Wyttenbach: ἀγαγέσθαι.
ο ἀλλὰ τὰ Μ arkland: ἅμα, 5 λείως Reiske: δεῖ ὥς.
4 προσηνῶς Meziriacus: πρὸς ἡμᾶς.
5 ὕπνου τε Meziriacus: ὑπινοῦται.
ϐ ποιῇ Markland: ποιεῖ. 7 χρίματι Paton: κράματι.
8 ὡς added by F.C.B.
9 ὄν added by Wyttenbach.

188

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 383-384

to its area,* and deserves to be admired for this reason,
yet it must be said that its contribution to the topic
under discussion is very slight. Most of the materials
that are taken into this compound, inasmuch as they
have aromatic properties, give forth a sweet emanation
and a beneficent exhalation, by which the air is
changed, and the body, being moved gently and
softly ὃ by the current, acquires a temperament con-
ducive tosleep; and the distress and strain of our daily
carking cares, as if they were knots, these exhala-
tions relax and loosen without the aid of wine. The
imaginative faculty that is susceptible to dreams. it
brightens like a mirror, and makes it clearer no less
effectively than did the notes of the lyre which the
Pythagoreans 5 used to employ before sleeping as a
charm and a cure for the emotional and irrational in
the soul. It is a fact that stimulating odours often
recall the failing powers of sensation, and often again
lull and quiet them when their emanations are diffused
in the body by virtue of their ethereal qualities ;
even as some physicians state that sleep supervenes
when the volatile portion of our food, gently perme-
ating the digestive tract and coming into close contact
with it, produces a species of titillation.

They use cyphi as both a potion and a salve;
for taken internally it seems to cleanse properly the
internal organs, since it is an emollient. Apart from
this, resin and myrrh result from the action of the
sun when the trees exude them in response to the
heat. Of the ingredients which compose cyphi,

a Cf. 367 F, supra. è Cf. Moralia, 1087 £.
ο Cf. Plato, Timaeus, 45 D, and Quintilian, ix. 4. 19.

10 σμύρνα Squire and one ms.: σμύρναν.
14 εἶλην Reiske: σελήνην.
189

PLUTARCH’S MORALIA

” a ` r A y [4 4
(384) ἔστιν ἃ νυκτί χαίρει μᾶλλον, ὥσπερ ὅσα πνεύμασι
ψυχροῖς καὶ σκιαῖς καὶ δρόσοις καὶ ὑγρότησι
τρέφεσθαι πέφυκεν. ἐπεὶ τὸ τῆς ἡμέρας φῶς ἓν
i 3 b3 ε m A 3 e e t
μέν ἐστι καὶ ἁπλοῦν καὶ τὸν ἥλιον 6 Πίνδαρος
ton 7 εἰ 3 £ 1 ? > z a e λ
ὁρᾶσθαί φησιν “ ἐρήμας' δι᾽ αἰθέρος’ ὁ δὲ νυκτε-
C ριὸς ἀὴρ κρᾶμα καὶ σύμμειγμα πολλῶν γέγονε
. ΄
φώτων καὶ δυνάμεων, οἷον σπερμάτων εἰς ἓν ἀπὸ
παντὸς ἄστρου καταρρεόντων. εἰκότως οὖν ἐκεῖνα
κ ε ε A . 3 > ε + ~ A ” 5
μὲν ὡς ἁπλᾶ καὶ ἀφ᾽ ἡλίου τὴν γένεσυ; ἔχοντα δι
n > a
ἡμέρας, ταῦτα δ᾽ ὡς μεικτὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ ταῖς
ποιότησιν ἀρχομένης νυκτὸς ἐπιθυμιῶσι.
1 ἐρήμας Pindar: ἐρήμης.

« Pindar, Olympian Odes, i. 6.
è Some think the essay ends too abruptly; others think it

190

ISIS AND OSIRIS, 384

there are some which delight more in the night, that
is, those which are wont to thrive in cold winds and
shadows and dews and dampness. For the light of
day is single and simple, and Pindar α says that the
sun is seen “ through the deserted aether.” But the
air at night is a composite mixture made up of many
lights and forces, even as though seeds from every
star were showered down into one place. Very
appropriately, therefore, they burn resin and myrrh
in the daytime, for these are simple substances
and have their origin from the sun; but the cyphi,
since it is compounded of ingredients of all sorts of
qualities, they offer at nightfall.®

is quite complete; each reader may properly have his own
opinion. f

191

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